Problems with the Past
by Roth
Summary: Gary saves a girl who's past is quickly catching up to her and that could spell disaster for everyone. Complete. YAY! Please review.
1. Default Chapter

Title: Problems with the Past

Author: I AM GRUMPY BEAR

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: If I owned Early Edition, I would be rich, but I don't so well boo hoo for me. Besides if you sue, you'll get pocket lint, don't worry it's nice and clean. 

Summary: Gary meets a girl who's past is quickly catching up to her and that could spell disaster for everyone.

Note: This story has a lot of other stories in, but if those stories aren't there, the whole story won't make since sorry. Well here's the story. I'm done babbling.

Problems with the Past

Chapter One: The Promise

Fred Bostwick sat handcuffed in the back of the police car. He was transported to another prison, but that wasn't what he was thinking about. Fred Bostwick was thinking about her. He was thinking about everyday she was alive, every step she took, every time she took a breath, and how he wished he could end it all.

"I'm making a promise now, Robin," Bostwick said to himself. "I'm going to get out, and if I go back again, it's going to be for your murder."

******

Fifteen-year-old Robin Mason sat in the seat before the police chief's desk. She had no idea what the meeting was about, but every second she sat there, she became more and more nervous.

"Hello, Robin," said the police chief, Dave Smith. "How are you?"

"F-fine," said Robin stuttering slightly. She always stuttered when she was nervous, or knew that something important was happening, or for no reason at all sometimes, "but c-could we drop this stupid polite chitchat and get to the reason you ca-called me here?"

"Knew you would want to know quickly." said Chief Smith. "He got out."

"How?" asked Robin as she slumped back in the chair.

"While he was being transported," said Chief Smith, "he managed to get out of his handcuffs. He killed the driver and got away. They haven't been able to find him yet."

"He's going to come ba-ba-back," said Robin nervously. "I know he is."

"I know, Robin," said Chief Smith. "They've decided they need to put you in the witness protection program."

"I ha-ha-have to leave Knoxville?" said Robin staring at the police chief. 

"Yes, Robin," said Chief Smith. "You'll be moving to Chicago."

"But I don't want to move-move-move," said Robin. She gave up on that sentence and said, "I don't want to leave Knoxville!"

"You'll be safer," said Chief Smith. "You and your family."

"I don't want to go," Robin almost shouted. "I don't want to run anymore. Just let him catch me already." She looked down at her feet and then out the window.

"I know you don't mean that, Robin," said Chief Smith.

"I do, too," said Robin. "I don't want to move."

"I know you don't want to move," said Chief Smith. "I'm talking about the other thing. I know you don't actually want him to catch you."

"Sometimes I do," said Robin. "Then everybody's lives could go back to normal. No one else would have to die because of me and Bostwick would stop coming back."

"We're going to catch him, Robin," said Chief Smith. "We've caught him before and we'll catch him again."

"We should have only had to catch him once," said Robin, "and the only reason he keeps breaking out is because he wants me dead. Too many people have been hurt and killed trying to protect me and that includes you."

Chief Smith unconsciously rubbed a fading scar on is arm where he had been shot by Bostwick half a year before.

"Please understand that we help you because we want to, Robin," said Chief Smith, "not because we have to."

"I know," said Robin as she got out of the chair, "but that doesn't mean that it's not my fault." She walked out of his office and then back into the main room of the police station. Carver Hanson and Sarah Box were both sitting at their desks and watched her as she left the police station. 

"I assume she didn't take it too well," Carver said to the chief who was standing in the doorway of his office.

"What do you think?" the chief asked bluntly.

"I think she'll be safer in Chicago," said Sarah.

"We have always thought what we were doing was going to make Robin safer," said Chief Smith, "but we always seem to be wrong."

"She was safe on her last two birthdays," said Carver, "and she spent them here."

"She was so happy, too," said Sarah sarcastically. 

"We got her a cake," said Carver. "We tried our best to make her birthday fun."

"Having a piece of cake at the police station doesn't even compare to having a party with you friends," said Sarah as she got up from her desk. "I thought you guys would understand that."

"Bostwick was out of prison," said Chief Smith. "We were under orders to keep her at the police station."

"We didn't keep her too safe," said Sarah. "He shot you and nearly killed Carver, not to mention Robin."

"Please stop reminding us of our failures," said Carver. "They're on our minds enough."

"All I'm trying to say is that maybe the police, and the feds, and everybody else should stop meddling in Robin's life," said Sarah as she got a paper glass of water and sat back down at her desk. "She seems to be able to take care of herself."

"But what if she isn't able to one of these days?" asked Carver.

"That's the only time we need to step in," said Sarah.

"Famous last words," muttered Carver.

"All I want is for her to be okay," said Chief Smith. "She kind of grows on you after awhile." He walked back into his office and closed the door.

******

"Say g-g-good-bye to Robin Mason," said Robin as she stood in the police station a week later, "because Robin Mason no longer exists."

"At least not until you're out of the Witness Protection Program," said Sarah.

"Are you guys even supposed to know I'm in it?" asked Robin.

"Don't know," replied Carver, "just don't tell us who you're going to be."

"Can do," said Robin. "I just came here to say good-bye."

"Good-bye, Robin," said Carver. "I guess we'll see you if you ever move back to Knoxville."

"Take care of yourself," said Sarah.

"I'll try," said Robin. "Good-bye, Sarah."

"Robin," said Chief Smith. She turned toward the man. "Be careful."

"She smiled at him and said, "I will. Good-bye."

"Good-bye," said Chief Smith.

Robin waved good-bye and walked outside. She climbed into her parents' car and took one last glance at the small police station.

"You ready?" asked Robin's mother, Christine.

"I've said good-bye to my friends, I've said good-bye to them," said Robin, "but if you're asking me if I'm ready to say good-bye to myself? Then no, but I don't have a choice now do I?"

"This doesn't have to be a bad thing," said Robin's father, Roy, as he pulled out of the parking spot.

"Yeah, right," said Robin. She watched as the house by the car window and felt her life slowly slip away. "Good-bye Robin Marie Mason. I don't know if I'll ever see you again." She looked down at her hands for a moment and then said so quietly that only she could hear it. "Hello, Emma Baily Jones."

******

Gary Hobson stooped down and picked up the newspaper. The cat stared up at him for a moment and the trotted into the apartment.

"Hello to you too," muttered Gary as he closed the door. He flipped through the paper as the cat went over and curled up in a chair. It apparently wasn't too interested in anything today.

Gary flipped threw the newspaper looking for what he had to do that day. The front page had no major stories so he flipped to the second page. One of the on the page was tittle, "Teenager Killed in Hit-and-Run."

"'Emma Jones was killed in a hit-and-run accident yesterday afternoon," Gary read quietly to himself. "She was walking home when a driver hit her while she was crossing the street. Paramedics arrived on the scene ten minutes later. She died at 4:05 while still in the ambulance."

Gary set the newspaper down and looked over at the cat. It stared at him for a minute and then jumped down from the chair. Gary turned from the cat to the newspaper and sighed.

******

"Happy Birthday, Em," said Rachel Pendri as she set her lunch tray down opposite her friend. "You're fifteen, right?"

"Yeah, Rachel," replied Robin. (A/N: Emma and Robin, same person.) She had been Emma Jones for almost five months and she still wasn't used to it.

"Then why are you so sad?" asked Rachel as she watched Robin pick at her lunch. "I thought birthdays were supposed to be happy times. Hence 'Happy Birthday.'"

Robin looked up from her lunch and said, "I just don't feel too happy today, Rachel."

"Why?" asked Rachel.

"I don't know," replied Robin.

"Why?" Rachel asked again.

"Because," said Rachel as she became impatient.

Rachel was silent for a minute and then asked, "Because why?"

Robin slammed her hands down on the table in frustration. "Because, Rachel, and if you ask me again, I'm going to scream."

Rachel stared at Rodin for a moment and then said, "You don't have to be rude." She started to eat her lunch.

"Sorry," said Robin. Rachel was the only person in Robin's entire school who had gone out of their way to be friendly to Robin when she first started going there. "I guess I'm just on edge today."

"Apology accepted," said Rachel. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a card. She tossed it to Robin and said, "Happy Birthday. I didn't know what to get you, Emma, so I got you something you could use."

Robin opened the card and pulled out a five dollar bill.

"How did you know?" asked robin with a laugh.

"Just a guess," answered Rachel. "What are you gonna do for your birthday?"

"I don't know," said Robin. "I'd have a party, but you'd be the only one to show up."

"You could," said Rachel trying to think, but she soon gave up and said, "I got nothing."

Robin laughed and then started to pick at her lunch again. "I'm just going to try and have a good day, Rachel."

"Alright, Emma," said Rachel. She picked up her fork and took a bite of her spaghetti. "They really need to start serving real food here." Rachel set her fork back down and pushed her lunch away.

******

Bostwick drove down the interstate with a sick grin on his face. It had taken several months, but he had finally been able to find out where Robin was.

He had gone to the police station in Knoxville just to ask them where she had gone, but they had all refused to tell him. They apparently had expected his next move because they all looked pretty shocked when he had shot Carver.

Bostwick was lucky enough to answer one of Chief Smith's phone calls from the Feds. They were calling to tell the chief that Bostwick was in the area.

Bostwick had started laughing and then hung up the phone. When they called back a little while later, Bostwick was ready to negotiate. He had held the three police officers hostage for two days before a weak Federal agent had finally broken down and told him where Robin was.

He had let the three officers go, one of them in worse condition than the other two, and left for Chicago. 

"I promised that I would get out, Robin," said Bostwick as he pulled off onto the Chicago exit, and "and I'm going to find you."

******

Gary walked down the sidewalk trying to get to where the accident was going to happen. The paper hadn't given the exact time of the accident so he had to estimate. Gary turned the corner and saw the girl who was supposed to be hit about to cross the street.

"Wait!" shouted Gary as he ran toward her.

The girl stepped back onto the sidewalk and looked at Gary just as a car speeded by. It would have definitely hit the girl.

The girl turned back toward the street and watched as the car turned a corner.

"Th-th-thanks," she said blankly to Gary.

"Are you alright?" asked Gary.

"Yeah," said the girl quickly. "Not a scratch." She stood there for a moment and then said. "Thanks again, um.."

"Gary," said Gary. "Gary Hobson."

"Ro- Emma Jones," said the girl quickly. "Thank again." She gave a small wave and started to cross the street.

Gary took out the paper and flipped to where the article had been. The story had only changed slightly. "'Girl in Critical Condition after Hit-and-Run,'" was the new tittle of the article.

Gary turned back toward the girl and saw her crossing the street. The same car from before come around the corner and slammed into her. The driver braked the car, got out, and looked over where the girl was lying. He looked over at Gary and Gary saw a look of pure hatred on his face. The driver got back into the car and drove off.

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First chapter up. Please review. 


	2. Rachel's Story

Title: Problems wit the Past

Author: I AM GRUMPY BEAR

Rating: PG

Spoiler: None

Disclaimer: I didn't own them in the first chapter and I don't own them now.

Summary: Gary meets a girl who's past is quickly catching up to her and that could spell disaster for everyone.

Note: This chapter doesn't seem very important now, but it will make sense later. Maybe by the end of the chapter.

Problems with the Past

Chapter Two: Rachel's Story

Rachel walked into her house where she lived with her mother, father, and nine siblings. She was the second oldest of ten children.

Rachel wasn't like most of her brothers and sisters. They all seemed to be brave, outgoing, and social, while she and her younger brother, Jamie, and her younger sister Lucy were more like their father. They were shy, quiet, and absent-minded. They would talk, but not a whole lot if they didn't know the person too well.

Rachel set her bag down in one of the kitchen chairs and went to get something to drink. She opened the fridge and saw that all the pops were gone. She had gotten there too late once again. Rachel closed the fridge and sighed. She picked up her backpack and headed up to the bedroom she shared with her thirteen-year-old sister Sarah.

No one in the house got there own room. There were ten kids, two adults, fourteen cats, two dogs, and four fish. Rachel's older brother Daniel was in college and was barely ever home anymore. Her mother was a vet and her father was a college professor. They were gone most of the day and Rachel and Sarah were in charge most of the time. No one in the family was ever put first either. When there were ten kids, everyone had to be treated equally. The only time someone got special treatment was when they were sick or something like that.

Rachel stepped into her bedroom and set her bag down on her bed. It was her job to make dinner and make sure everyone was home on time. It was Sarah's job to make sure everyone got their homework done and that they were in bed on time.

Rachel's Aunt Irene and Uncle Bob lived a block away with their six children (everyone in the Pendri family had a lot of kids) and Rachel's siblings Luke, Lucy, Annie, and Marilyn often went over there to play. It was normally Rachel's job to go and get them at dinner time.

Rachel sat down at her desk and thought back to one of the times when she had gone to get her siblings. It had still been fairly light out and Rachel hadn't expected anything out of the ordinary to happen. She had walked past an alley between two apartment buildings when two people had grabbed her. Not being like her other siblings and being able to think fast on her feet, she didn't really put up any fight at all.

"Give me your money!" was all the first guy had said.

"I don't have any," was Rachel's nervous reply. She wasn't able to manage much more. She had never been mugged before, but her brother Daniel had. He had ended up with stitches in his arm when he had tried to fight his muggers. "I swear I don't have any."

One of the muggers had glared at her and then said something quietly to his partner. Rachel was thinking about making a run for it while they were talking, but before she had the chance a person shouted something at the two muggers.

"You leave her alone!" the man had shouted. The muggers had quickly ran off and the man had come to see if Rachel was alright. 

"You okay?" the man had asked Rachel.

"Pretty sure," Rachel replied. "Thanks." 

"You're welcome," the man said. Before Rachel could say anything else the man was already leaving. Rachel watched as he took a newspaper out of his pocket and left the alley. She had finished the walk to her aunt and uncle's and told no one about the near mugging. It was best her family not know for once.

Rachel came out of her day dream and started to work on her school work. 

"You here, Rachel?" her sister Sarah shouted up to her.

"Yeah," Rachel shouted back.

"Are you going to fix dinner?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah," said Rachel. "Hold on." She put away her homework and went downstairs.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I don't know if you know it yet, but there is a point to this chapter.


	3. Back into the Shadows

Title: Problems with the Past

Author: I AM GRUMPY-BEAR

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Summary: Gary meets a girl who's past is quickly catching up to her and that could spell disaster for everyone.

Disclaimer: Still don't own them. It's a shame isn't it.

Note: Well, I have another chapter up and that is a real accomplishment for me. Please excuse any grammar mistakes. I'm trying my best to catch them. Thanks Lindsey for helping me with the name.

Problems with the Past

Chapter Three: Back into the Shadows

Gary thought about the accident. The same car had come back and hit the girl. It wasn't hard to figure out that what happened wasn't an accident. The man had gotten out of the car and stared at her. He hadn't even checked to see if she was alright.

One of the shop owners had seen the accident and called both the paramedics and the police. The girl was now being loaded into the ambulance and Gary was talking to one of the police officers.

"Do you remember what the driver looked like?" asked the officer.

"He had dark brown hair and was about my height," said Gary, "maybe taller."

"How do you know his height?" asked the officer.

"He got out of the car," said Gary.

"Did he try to help her?" the officer asked in a confused tone.

"No," answered Gary. "He just stared at her and then got back in the car and drove away."

"Alright," said the officer. "We'll call you if we have anymore questions."

Gary nodded and then asked, "Do you know if she's going to be alright?"

"Don't know," said the officer. He closed his notebook and then walked away.

Gary looked at the paper again and saw that the story hadn't changed. Gary closed the paper and started to walk home.

******

No one saw him the entire time he was standing there. He watched the ambulance and the police arrive. He wanted to laugh, but was able to keep it inside. He didn't want anyone to hear him and come over to his hiding place in the alley.

He watched as the paramedics loaded Robin into the ambulance and he thought to himself, "How can she not be dead?! I hit her with a damn car! What if she wakes up? Then she can tell the police about me and I'll never get my chance to kill her." He kicked the wall of the alley in frustration.

Bostwick leaned against the wall and then looked back at the scene. Bostwick finally saw him. He was talking to one of the police officers who had arrived at the scene.

"He saw me," thought Bostwick. "He knows what I look like and he's telling the police." Bostwick took a minute to think. He wasn't a big fan of planning and he wasn't very good at it either. He was fond of the way the police and feds described him. They all called Bostwick a criminal of opportunity. He took one last look at the scene and then walked away.

******

Christine Mason, or at the point in time Linda Jones, heard the phone in the kitchen ring and hurried to answer it. 

"Hello?" she said into the receiver.

"Mrs. Mason?" said the person on the other end.

"N-n-no," said Christine nervously. "I think you have the wrong number."

"No," said the person. "Mrs. Mason, this is Agent Maureen Hazel."

"Oh," said Christine finally understanding. Then realizing the only reason she would have called is if something bad happened she asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Bostwick has found out where you are," said Hazel. "We don't know for sure, but we think he's on his way to Chicago now. You're going to have to be extra careful. I'm leaving for Chicago as soon as possible."

Christine felt the phone slip from her hand and it fell to the floor.

"Mrs. Mason!?" Hazel shouted into the phone. "Mrs. Mason, are you there?!"

Christine picked up the phone and in a shaky voice said, "Y-y-yes, I'm here. Does he know our new names?"

"No," said Hazel. "He doesn't." There was a short pause and then the agent said, "Please be careful, Mrs. Mason. We're doing our best to get Bostwick back in prison. Good-bye."

"Good-bye," said Christine. She hung up the phone and was walking out of the kitchen when it rang again. Christine walked back over and answered it. "Hello?"

"Mrs. Jones?" said a woman's voice from the other end.

"Yes," replied Christine.

"My name is Nurse Riggs and I'm calling from Cook County Hospital," said the woman.

For a second, Christine's heart stopped. "What happened?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Your daughter, Emma Jones, was just admitted to the emergency room. She was in an accident," said Nurse Riggs.

"Is she okay?" Christine asked nervously.

"I don't know," replied the nurse.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," said Christine. She shakily hung up the phone, and then left the apartment.

******

Gary walked slowly down the sidewalk. He jut couldn't get the accident out of his head.

"Why did he come back?" Gary kept asking himself. "Why did he want to hit her?"

While he was thinking, a man was watching him. Gary didn't see him watching or writing down the name of his hotel. And he didn't see the man walking back into the shadows with an evil smirk on his face.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Another short chapter I know, but it's needed for the story to make sense. (I have the right sense this time.)


	4. Reassurance

Title: Problems with the Past

Author: I AM GRUMPY-BEAR

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Summary: Gary meets a girl who's past is quickly catching up to her and that could spell disaster for everyone.

Disclaimer: I still don't own them, but I'm working on it.

Note: I'm working, I'm working.

Problems with the Past

Chapter Four: Reassurance

Agent Maureen Hazel walked through the airport towards the terminal. She had gotten the first ticket for a Chicago flight she could.

She was still amazed by Bostwick. He was an unorganized, simple-minded, criminal, but he was still able to outsmart both the police and federal agents.

And then there was Robin. She had been able to succeed where everyone else had failed. She had caught and put Frederick Bostwick behind bars twice. In return, he had tried to kill her fours times. Bostwick had nearly succeeded last time.

Hazel boarded the plane and took her seat. She wasn't ready to face Robin and her family. She was tired of ruining that family's life.

She sighed as she waited for take off. The words Sarah had said to her while she was at the hospital still stung. Hazel had gone to the hospital to see if carver was alright, when she ran into Sarah. She had blamed everything on Hazel. She had blamed Hazel for everything. Carver's injury, Robin's problems, and even Bostwick's escape. Hazel knew Sarah had said most those things because she angry, but her last words still hurt.

"Why don't you stop ruining people's lives before you kill somebody else," Sarah had shouted at her. Three police officers and one federal agent had been killed while trying to apprehend Bostwick and the failure still bothered Hazel.

She looked up and saw the fasten seatbelts light on. She followed the instructions and settled in for the flight.

******

Gary walked into his apartment and dropped the paper by the door. The cat looked up at Gary and meowed. He ignored it and sat down in a chair. The cat jumped onto his lap, but he pushed it away.

"Leave me alone," Gary said to the animal. The cat hissed at him and then got into another chair to sleep. Gary heard a knock on the door and went to answer it.

"Hay, Gar," said Chuck Fishman when Gary opened the door. "What's new?"

"Nothing," said Gary half-heartedly as he let Chuck in.

"What's the matter?" asked Chuck as he sat down in a chair.

Gary looked at Chuck and then said, "A girl got hit by a car today, and I couldn't stop it."

"What do you mean?" asked Chuck. "It wasn't in the paper or something?"

"It was in the paper," said Gary. "Twice. The first time the girl was supposed to be killed in a hit-and-run accident. I stopped that, but when I looked at the paper again, it had changed. She was still supposed to be hit by a car. I couldn't stop it."

"Did she die?" asked Chuck.

"No," said Gary. "She's in critical condition, but that's not the point."

"What's the point?" asked Chuck not understanding his friend.

"The same car that was going to hit her the first time came back and hit her," said Gary. "The driver got out and stared at her and then just drove away. He wanted to hit her." Gary looked over at the newspaper lying by the door.

Chuck thought about what Gary had said and then replied, "Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah," answered Gary. "I'll be fine." The cat looked up from his slumber at the two and then back to sleep.

******

Gary woke up to the normal thump of the newspaper and the meow of the cat. He got out his bed and went to get the paper. The cat walked into the apartment as Gary picked up the newspaper. The front page story was about an apartment building fire that killed seven people. Gary sighed and looked at the cat. "You're not going to make my day easy, are you?" he asked it.

The cat stared at him for a moment and then meowed in response.

******

Gary walked up to the apartment building and watched as people walked in and out. He walked up to the door and stepped inside. Gary looked around and saw a woman holding a bag of groceries about to get on the elevator.

"Pardon me?" Gary said to the woman.

She looked at him and asked, "What?"

"Where is the superintendent?" asked Gary.

"Go down that hall over there," said the woman. "He's putting in a new window."

"Thanks," said Gary. The woman nodded and got on the elevator. Gary walked down the hall and saw a man carrying the glass to a window into an apartment. "Pardon me?"

The man turned toward him and nearly dropped the glass. "Can I help you?" he asked impatiently. 

"Th-th-there's a fire on the ninth floor," said Gary.

"What?" asked the man. "How on Earth do you know that?"

"I just- I just- I just do," said Gary. 

The man stared at Gary for a moment and then set the glass down. "I can't believe I'm doing this ," he said as he led Gary over to the elevator. Gary hit the nine button and waited while the elevator climbed to the right floor. The elevator doors slid open and immediately Gary and the super smelled the smoke.

The super ran down the hall to an apartment door and started to pound on it. "Mrs. Green!" he shouted. "Mrs. Green!" The super stepped back and muttered. "That woman's practically deaf. She's never going to hear me."

"How come no one else on the floor has smelled the smoke?" asked Gary.

"No one else lives on the floor," replied the super. He got out a key ring and used one of the keys to open the apartment door. Smoke poured into the hallway and they could hear the smoke alarm going off.

"Go get the fire extinguisher from down the hall," the super ordered Gary. He went into the apartment to try and find the woman while Gary went to get the extinguisher.

"Mrs. Green, you in here?!" Gary heard the man shout between coughs. He ran back to the apartment and saw th super carrying a small older woman out of the apartment. "The fire's in the kitchen," he said as best he could through coughs.

Gary nodded and rushed into the smoke filled apartment. He quickly found the fire coming from the kitchen stove and used the fire extinguisher to put it out. Gary sighed and walked back out into the hall. "Fire's out," said Gary.

"Thanks," said the super as he tried to wake up the elderly woman.

"No problem," said Gary.

******

Hazel waited for her luggage at the airport. Her plane had to land and was delayed over night due to bad weather. She was hoping the airport hadn't lost her luggage. That was the thing she hated most about airports, going to lost luggage. She was relieved when she saw her bags. Hazel picked up her luggage and left the airport.

Her first stop was the hospital. She had gotten a call from a hysterical Christine Mason last night telling her that Robin was in the hospital. After Hazel checked on both Robin and her family, she was headed to the police station. She needed to find out more about Robin's "accident."

She hailed a taxi and got into the back.

"Where to?" asked the cab driver.

"Cook County Hospital," replied Hazel.

"Alright," said the cab driver as he took off.

******

Gary watched the paramedics load the elderly woman into the ambulance. They had said they were only taking her to the hospital to be safe and that she was going to be okay.

Gary took out the paper and saw that the apartment fire story was gone. He put the paper back into his pocket and walked away.

******

Bostwick stared at the man walking away from the apartment building.

"Yesterday he was at a hit-and-run," Bostwick thought to himself, "and today he's at a fire. Does he just run around doing good deeds all day."

He stepped out of the alley and carefully followed Gary making sure he couldn't see him.

******

Hazel stepped off the elevator and onto the ICU floor. She saw Robin's father, Roy, walking down the hall.

"Mr. Mason," Hazel said to Roy as she walked towards him.

He turned toward her and asked, "What do you want?"

"How is she?" asked Hazel having trouble reading the man's face.

"She was hit by a car," said Roy with no emotion. "How do you think she is?"

"I'm sorry," said Hazel.

"It wasn't your fault," said Roy.

"Yeah it was," said Hazel. "I know I could have prevented this somehow. It's my job."

"I can't take this anymore," said Roy as he leaned against the wall. "I can't take almost losing my daughter anymore. She's fifteen-years-old. She should be worried about what she's going to where tomorrow, not if she's going to be alive to wear it. Robin shouldn't have to deal with all this."

"Look," said Hazel. "We're going to catch Bostwick and she'll never have to worry about him again. I promise that to you and Christine and Sarah and Carver and Chief Smith and Robin. He's not going to get away this time."

Roy looked at Hazel and said quietly, "Thanks for the reassurance."

Hazel smiled and said, "It's what I'm here for."

******

Robin slowly started to open her eyes. She was immediately aware of a pain in her chest. She tried to sit up, but the pain stopped her. Robin looked around the room and realized she was in a hospital. She saw her mother sleeping in a chair near her bed. Robin reached over and grabbed her mother's hand. Christine woke up and saw her daughter's open eyes.

"Robin," Christine said to her daughter through tears. "Robin, you're awake." She set her daughter's hand down and said quietly, "I'm going to go get the nurse. You stay awake, alright?"

Robin gave a slight nod and Christine left the hospital room.

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Fourth chapter up. Someone pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeee review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


	5. More Lives than a Cat

Title: Problems with the Past

Author: I AM GRUMPY-BEAR

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Summary: Gary meets a girl who's past is quickly catching up to her and that could spell disaster for everyone.

Disclaimer: I still don't own. Nope. Not mine.

Note: Not much to say right now. Bye.

Problems with the Past

Chapter Five: More Lives than a Cat

Bostwick sat at the bar trying to think. "What am I supposed to do?" he asked himself. "This shouldn't be hard. She's fifteen-years-old. How hard is it to kill a fifteen-year-old? I've stuck her in a freezer, I've sent her a bomb, I've tried to shoot her, and I hit with a car. She has more lives than a cat."

He set his drink down and looked up at the baseball game on television. "Life used to be so easy," he thought to himself. "Betting on baseball games, horse races, simple stuff. Everything went down hill after Mike talked me into that robbery. If he hadn't been so paranoid none of this would have happened."

Bostwick waited until the bartender wasn't paying attention and slowly got up from his seat. He left the bar before the bartender could realize that he hadn't payed his bill.

******

"How are you feeling, Robin?" Hazel asked Robin after the doctors had checked her out.

"I am so sore," said Robin through a sleepy haze, "and I can't remember anything after this guy telling me not to step into the street."

"What do you mean?" asked Hazel.

"Right before the accident," said Robin slightly disoriented, "this guy told me not to step out into the street. I stayed on the si-side-sidewalk and a car rushed by. It would have hit me."

"Do you remember who it was?" asked Hazel. She knew she probably shouldn't be questioning Robin right then, but she wanted answers.

"He told me his name," said Robin, "Something with a "g." Garret, Gabe, Gary. Gary. That was it."

Hazel nodded and said, "You get some rest. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow."

"You said he got hurt," said Robin before Hazel could get out of the room.

"Who got hurt?" asked Roy.

"Carver," replied Robin. "She said Carver got hurt." Robin closed her eyes for a moment and tried to collect her thoughts.

"Maybe you should rest," said Christine.

"No," said Robin weakly. "I wanna kn-kno-know-know what happened to Carver."

Hazel sighed knowing that Robin wasn't going to back down. "Bostwick shot him."

"Not again," said Robin resting her head against her pillow. "Is he alright?"

"The doctors say he's going to be okay," answered Hazel.

"This is all my fault," said Robin sadly. 

Realizing their daughter was putting herself under unwanted and unneeded stress, Roy said, "I think that's all the questioning Robin can handle today."

"I'm fine," said Robin opening her eyes.

"No," said Hazel agreeing with Robin's parents. "You should rest. Good-bye." She left the hospital room and Robin drifted back off to sleep.

******

Gary grabbed the back of the kid's shirt before he could ride off the small foot-bridge. The kid looked up at him and said through his missing teeth, "What are you doing?"

"Do you know how to swim?" asked Gary. The little boy shook his head. "Stopping you from getting a bad swimming lesson. Why don't you ride the other way?" 

The kid looked at Gary for a moment and then slowly rode in the other direction. His small bike wobbled a bit even with his training wheels. Gary sighed and checked to make sure the story had changed in the paper before walking away.

******

Hazel walked into the busy police station and up to the desk. "I'm here to talk to Detective Crumb," she said to the sergeant on duty. 

He looked up at her and asked, "Do you have an appointment?"

"Just tell him the Agent Maureen Hazel is here to speak to him," replied Hazel.

The sergeant stared at her for a minute and then went to get the detective.

******

Gary walked down the sidewalk. All he wanted to do was go home and sleep. So far that day he had prevented a five-year-old from riding his bike into a pond and drowning, an apartment building fire, a car accident, and a robbery. He had a weird feeling all day that someone was watching him, but he figured it was just stress. He still felt bad about the hit-and-run the day before.

He accidently bumped into a man who was quickly walking past him. "Sorry," said Gary turning toward the man. He saw that it was the man from the accident. Before Gary could do anything, the man punched him in the stomach. Gary doubled over in pain and watched the man take off down the street. People had stopped to see what was happening, but no one stopped the man.

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Number Five! YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	6. Coincidence

Title: Problems with the Past

Author: I AM GRUMPY-BEAR

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Summary: Gary meets a girl who's past is quickly catching up to her and that could spell disaster for everyone.

Disclaimer: How many times do I have to tell you. I don't own them. At least not yet. Note to self. *shifts eyes.*

Note: Six chapters. I'm so happy. *wipes eyes*

Problems with the Past

Chapter Six: Coincidence

Rachel knocked on the apartment. Emma had been gone from school that day and she was bringing her homework. Rachel waited a few minutes and then knocked on the door again. She was just about to leave when Emma's father, Mark, (a/n: Mark and Roy, same person) walked towards the apartment.

"Hi, Mr. Jones," said Rachel. "The school had me bring Emma's homework."

Roy looked at Rachel and took the books and papers. "Thanks," he said quietly.

Rachel stared at Roy for a moment and then asked, "Can I go talk to Emma?"

Roy sighed sadly and answered, "Emma is in the hospital; she was in an accident."

"Is she okay?" asked Rachel nervously.

"Right now she is," said Roy. He paused for a moment and then said, "You might be able to visit her tomorrow."

"Alright," said Rachel. She said good-bye and left. Roy sighed and walked into the apartment. He set the books down on the kitchen table and sat down in a chair. He had been up all of the night before and the lost sleep was catching up to him. Before he could stop himself, Roy had fallen a sleep.

******

"How can I help you, Agent Hazel?" Detective Crumb asked the federal agent.

"Yesterday there was a hit-and-run accident," said Hazel. "The girl who was hit was named Robin Mason. I need all the information you have on that accident."

"Am I allowed to ask why?" asked Crumb.

"You're allowed to," said Hazel, "doesn't mean I'm going to answer."

Crumb stared at the woman for a moment and then left the office. Hazel waited for a few minutes until the detective walked back into the office carrying a manila folder.

"There was a hit-and-run accident yesterday," said Crumb, "but the girl hit was named Emma Jones."

"That would be her," said Hazel reaching for the folder.

Crumb kept the folder out of her reach and said, "You said the girl's name was Robin Mason."

Hazel stared at him for a moment not knowing what to say. She had messed up completely. Hazel was mentally kicking herself for that slip.

"Who is Robin Mason?" asked Crumb impatiently.

Hazel remained quiet for another few seconds and then answered, "Robin Mason is Emma Jones and vice versa."

"What are you talking about?" asked Crumb.

"Right now, a man named Frederick Bostwick is walking the streets of Chicago," said Hazel with a sigh. "He is wanted for escaping from jail, murder, and two counts of attempted murder. He has been in jail three times before and has escaped three times. He has killed two police officers, one federal agent, and five civilians. Together he has twelve counts of attempted murder. Four of those are all against one person. Her name is Robin Mason and she is the person who helped to put Bostwick behind bars all three times."

Hazel stopped for a moment to see if Crumb had anything to say. When he didn't say anything, she continued. "In the past week he has shot one police officer and held three hostage. The police officer he shot in now recovering in the hospital. He also hit a girl with a car. I can guarantee you the most important thing on his mind is his plan to kill Robin Mason."

"Now that I know who Robin Mason is," said Crumb," can you tell me who Emma Jones is?" 

"Robin and her family were put into the witness protection program," said Hazel. "Emma Jones was her new identity." She stared at the man. "Can I please see the folder now?"

Crumb handed her the folder and she opened it up. "Do you guys always work on hit-and-runs?" asked Crumb sarcastically.

"We do when a psychotic criminal we've been trying to catch commits one," replied Hazel without looking up.

"You're not going to find much information in that," said Crumb.

"You be surprised how much you can learn about Bostwick from some of the simple things he does," said Hazel as she continued to read. 

******

"He just hit you?" asked Marissa.

"Yeah," said Gary. "I don't know what the heck is going on."

"I thought you said it was just a hit-and-run," said Chuck.

"That's what I thought it was," said Gary, "but I'm not so sure any more."

"Maybe the guy's just afraid the police are going to catch him," said Chuck.

"Then why would he hit Gary?" asked Marissa.

"Gary saw the accident happen," said Chuck.

"It wasn't an accident," said Gary. "The guy meant to hit her."

"How do you know that?" asked Marissa.

"The car almost hit her a first time," said Gary, "but I prevented that. The same car came back around and hit her. Then he got out of the car and stared at her. He didn't even try to help her."

"Maybe he was a afraid," suggested Chuck.

"No," said Gary as he shook his head. "I saw the look on his face. He looked like he hated that girl. I don't think he would have helped her even if his life depended on it."

******

Hazel carefully read through the police report. She couldn't afford to miss a thing. Bostwick had made a lot of mistakes during his life of crime and he had never made a plan, but somehow he always managed to get away. Since he never made a plan, he never knew where he was going next. He just took his chance when he saw it. The police never knew where to look for him. They just had to keep Robin out of his of reach and pray he would slip-up.

Hazel searched for anything odd in the report, but after she had read through it a third time, she was close to giving up.

"You're not going to find anything," said Crumb.

Hazel ignored him and continued reading. She hated when people told her she wasn't going to find something or someone. That only made her work harder. It was then that she noticed the name.

"Robin said a man named Gary told her not to step out into the street," Hazel thought to herself, "and he's right here in the police report. I've read this three times. Why didn't I make the connection sooner?"

Hazel looked up at the detective and asked, "Have you ever heard of a man named Gary Hobson?"

Crumb didn't respond for a few seconds and then asked, "Why?"

"His name is in the police report," said Hazel. "He was a witness."

"There's another witness," said Crumb. "What's so special about Hobson?"

"His name is Gary," said Hazel. "Robin said a man named Gary stopped her from walking out into the street and getting hit."

"But she was hit," said Crumb.

"Stopped her from getting hit the first time," said Hazel.

"I'm confused," said Crumb.

"She was going to step out into the street," explained Hazel, "but someone told to wait. She was nearly hit. Then when she was crossing the street, she was hit."

"Oh," said Crumb still not quite understanding.

"You never answered my question," said Hazel.

Crumb stared at the federal agent and then said, "I know him, but I can guarantee you that he had nothing to do with this accident."

"A man shouts at Robin not to go out into the street and she narrowly avoids getting hit," said Robin, "and then five seconds later she gets hit anyway. That was not all a coincidence and I can tell that you don't believe it was either."

"I'm telling you," said Crumb, "Hobson was not involved with that accident. He may show up at weird times, but he's not a criminal."

"What?" asked Hazel apparently confused.

"Nothing," said Crumb. "I'm just trying to tell you that Hobson had nothing to do with the accident."

"You're probably right," said Hazel, "but I'm not willing to take any chances. Besides, even if he was only a witness, he could still be in danger. Bostwick is a very dangerous man and his only goal is to get rid of Robin. It's almost sad. He has no other plans."

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Six chapters. Wow! Well, time to work on seven.


	7. Disguises

Title: Problems with the Past

Author: I AM GRUMPY-BEAR

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Summary: Gary meets a girl who's past is quickly catching up to her and that could spell disaster for everyone.

Disclaimer: You depress me by asking if I own them. Well, I don't. So live with it. sticks out tongue.

Note: Thanks for all the reviews. Well. Bye.

Problems with the Past

Chapter Seven: Disguises

Rachel waked through the hospital halls and up to the nurse's station. "I'm looking for Emma Jones's room," she said to the nurse on duty.

"Emma Jones," said the nurse as she tried to recall the name. "You go straight down that hall. It's room number 615."

"Thanks," said Rachel. She followed the nurse's directions and came up to the room. Even though the door was already open, she knocked anyway.

"Come on in," said a voice from inside. Rachel walked into the room an saw Robin sitting up in her bed.

"Hey, Em," said Rachel quietly. "How you feeling?"

"Sore," replied Robin, "but what can I expect?"

"What happened?" asked Rachel as she sat down in the chair by the bed.

"A driver wasn't paying attention," said Robin,. "They hit me." Robin hated lying to her friend, but she couldn't tell her the truth.

"Are you alright?" asked Rachel.

"The doctors tell me I'm going to be," replied Robin, "but I don't know."

Rachel nodded and then reached into the pocket of her sweatshirt. "I got you something," she said as she handed Robin a small, get-well bear.

"Thanks," said Robin as she set the bear on the table next to the bed.

"Hi, Robin," said Christine as she walked into the hospital room. She didn't know Rachel was there.

"Who's Robin?" Rachel asked Christine. 

Christine stared at Rachel not knowing what to say. For a moment there was an awkward silence and then Robin said, "It's me."

Christine's eyes went wide with shock as she stared at her daughter. Rachel didn't and wasn't supposed to know that Robin was in the Witness Protection Program. "What are you saying, Emma?" 

"It's my middle name, Mom," said Robin without missing a beat. She turned toward Rachel. "It was her mother's name and that's what she wanted to name me, but instead it's my middle name and she calls me it sometimes."

"I thought you said your middle name was Baily," said Rachel. She was confused.

Robin took a few seconds to come up with something. She hadn't counted on Rachel remembering her middle name. "I have two," said Robin. "My full name is Emma Baily Robin Jones."

"Oh," said Rachel still slightly confused.

Christine sighed in relief. She was never quick to think on her feet. She was lucky her daughter had been able to cover her slip-up. Christine looked at her watch and said, "I have to pick your father up at work. I'll see you in a little while."

"Bye, Mom," said Robin through a yawn.

"Bye, Mrs. Jones," said Rachel as she waved. Christine left the room and Rachel looked at the clock on the wall. "I have to get going, Robin. Sarah has a birthday party she's going to tonight and I have to babysit. I'll be seeing you."

"Bye," said Robin stilling yawning. She gave a small wave and started to drift off to sleep.

Rachel got out of the chair and walked over to the door. Robin's explanation of the names was still bothering her. Just before she left, Rachel asked, "What's your full name?"

"Robin Marie Mason," said Robin as she fell asleep.

Rachel stared at her friend and then left the room. She walked down the hall and got onto the elevator. What her friend had said made no sense. Rachel pressed the button for the first floor and waited while the elevator descended.

Gary walked into the police station. He had gotten a call from Crumb telling him to come down to the police station. Before Gary could ask where Crumb was, Crumb saw him and called him into his office.

Gary sat down in a chair just as a woman walked into the office. She was carrying four manila folders in one hand and a photograph in the other.

"Hello," she said to Gary as she set the folders and photo on the desk. "I assume you're Gary Hobson."

"Yeah," said Gary with a nod, "and you are?"

"My name is Agent Maureen Hazel," said the woman. "I have a few questions for you."

"About what?" asked Gary nervously.

"About an accident you witnessed," replied Hazel, "or have you forgotten about it already?"

"I-I haven't forgotten about it," said Gary.

"Good," said Hazel, "because that wouldn't do me much good." She handed the photograph to Gary and asked, "Have you ever seen this man before?"

Gary looked at the photo for a second and then replied, "I've seen him twice."

"Twice?" said Hazel.

"Yeah," said Gary as he handed the photo back. "He was the driver in the accident. I saw him there." 

"And where else?" asked Hazel.

"I saw him walking down the street yesterday," said Gary. "I bumped into him. He must have recognized me because he ran off though."

Hazel stared at Gary for a moment. Bostwick had only had a partner once before. That was fifteen years ago when Bostwick and Michael Sumter had murdered George Stanton. "Even if Bostwick does have someone else working with him, this guy isn't it," Hazel thought to herself.

"Why did you tell Robin not to step out into the street?" asked Hazel.

"Who?" asked Gary confused.

"The girl in the accident," answered Hazel.

"I-I-I saw the car coming," said Gary coming up with a quick explanation.

"You saw the car coming?" said Hazel. Gary could tell by the tone of her voice that she didn't believe him.

"Yeah," said Gary.

"And Robin didn't see the car coming?" asked Hazel.

"I guess not," replied Gary.

Hazel continued to stared at Gary for a few seconds more and then said, "Thanks for coming in."

"That's all the questions you have?!" shouted Crumb angrily. The woman had only asked four questions.

"Unless you have any," said Hazel as she turned toward the detective. She was glaring at him.

Crumb glared back at the federal agent and then muttered angrily, "No."

"Good," said hazel. She turned back toward Gary. "You can go."

Gary stood up and asked, "Can I ask you a question?'

"You can ask," said Hazel, "don't know if I'll answer."

"Who is Robin?" asked Gary.

"A girl," replied Hazel simply. "Good day."

Gary could tell that the woman was done talking and started to leave.

"Be careful," he heard her say.

"What?" asked Gary.

"I said be careful," said Hazel. "The man in that accident is a very dangerous man. You need to be careful."

Gary nodded and left the office.

"You're really bad with names," said Crumb.

"I've known her as Robin for two years," said Hazel in her defense. "It's hard to switch to a completely new identity."

"You still think he had anything to do with it?" asked Crumb in a slightly smug tone.

"Not really," replied Hazel, "but then again I could be wrong." She had only said that last part to make the detective mad. "He still needs to be careful."

"I thought you said his only goal was to kill Robin," said Crumb as he sat down at his desk and started to looked through the folders Hazel had brought in.

"I did," said Hazel as she picked up the criminal's photo. "That means he's willing to do anything to get to Robin and then includes killing anyone who might get in his way. I've watched a lot of people die because of Bostwick."

"You said he killed a federal agent," said Crumb.

"Yeah," said Hazel. "I knew him."

"How well?" asked Crumb.

"He was my partner," answered Hazel. She set the photograph down and sighed. She looked at the detective and asked, "Are you going to stare at me or are you going to read what's in that folder?"

Crumb shook his head and looked back down at the folder.

Bostwick watched as the man left the office. He had followed him into the police station just to show that they weren't smart enough to catch him. The man left the station and Bostwick was right behind him. Bostwick hadn't lost track of the guy since the day before when he had punched him to get away.

"Agent Hazel is in town," Bostwick thought to himself as he followed the man. "What a wonderful a little reunion! I wonder if she's still mad at me for killing that partner of her's. I wouldn't of had to kill him if he hadn't been following me so well." Bostwick smiled as he remembered it all. The memories were all coming back quickly and he often thought about his past crimes whenever he got the chance. 

Bostwick watched the man pull out a newspaper and then call a taxi. "This should be fun," Bostwick said quietly to himself as he pulled out a baseball hat and a pair of glasses. He put on the simple disguise and then ran over to the man as he was getting into the cab.

"Pardon me?" Bostwick said to the man.

"Yeah?" said the man looking at him.

"I'm really late for an appointment," lied Bostwick. "I have to get there. Mind if I hitch a ride in your cab."

"No," said the man.

"Thanks," said Bostwick. He smiled and got into the cab after the man.

Aren't I evil. laughs evilly. Chapter Seven YYYYYYAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so enthused. Looks around Breaks over. Time to work on eight.


	8. The American Boy

Title: Problems with the Past

Author: I AM GRUMPY-BEAR

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Summary: Gary meets a girl who's past is quickly catching up to her and that could spell disaster for everyone.

Disclaimer: I don't own them. I don't, I don't, I don't

Note: Frederick Bostwick was a character I made up in a story I wrote with a friend of mine. Most of this chapter was taken from that story. Basically, I thought you might all like to know why he is so evil and all. There was a reason.

Problems with the Past

Chapter Eight: The American Boy

Frederick Charles Bostwick was raised like most American boys. His parents were together all their lives and he had always been given a lot of love. He was an only child until his baby brother Samuel Wayne Bostwick was born when he was five. 

While growing up, Bostwick played various sports. He had played football in junior high, and was on the varsity baseball team his freshman year. His parents always managed to make it to all his games and bragged about him to all their friends.

Although Samuel was not interested in sports, he enjoyed participating in other activities. Unfortunately, his parents were not too interested in what Samuel enjoyed and never quite managed to make time for his events. It had always seemed that Bostwick was their favorite son and Bostwick being happy with all the attention never noticed haw sad his younger brother was.

Everything had changed for Bostwick his sophomore year of high school. He hadn't made the cut for the baseball team and his parents practically disowned him. Their lives had been all about Bostwick's games. Bostwick, angry at the baseball coach, took a baseball bat and bashed in the car windows. Bostwick's life had gone down the hill from there. 

He quit caring about school and sports and started to commit petty crimes. He had gotten together with a kid at his school and held up a convenient store when he was sixteen. That kid was Michael Sumter, his best friend and soon to be partner in crime. Since they were still a minors, he and Michael had gotten away with only two years in a juvenile delinquent center before being transferred to a minimum security prison for a two year sentence. 

After being released from prison, Bostwick and Sumter had left their hometown of Jacksonville and moved to a small town in mid-western Illinois. There they did odd jobs around the town. One of the families they worked for were the Stantons. The father was named George Stanton and he was a self-made millionaire. That's when Sumter hatched the plan.

Sumter got a job at Knoxville Junior High as a janitor and Bostwick continued to do odd jobs around the town. Then one night, Bostwick and Sumter broke into Stanton's house and stole one million dollars worth of money, stocks, and jewelry. Stanton caught them in the act and their robbery became a murder.

Sumter and Bostwick had split up after the crime and Sumter was picked up by the police a day later. They were never able to get enough evidence to pin the crime on either Sumter or Bostwick.

Two years later Michael Sumter was killed in a car accident. The rest of the Stantons moved away and for eleven years, the robbery and murder went unsolved. The town forgot about and went back to their normal lives. For thirteen years, Frederick Charles Bostwick was missing, until one day, he came back.

Like his friend before him, Bostwick became a custodian at the Knoxville Junior High. He was in search of the money he and his friend had stolen. After Bostwick had been searching a week, a kid had stumbled onto the locker with the clues to where the fortune was hidden. Her name was Robin Mason, and she and her friend Samantha were determined to find the money.

After following the two girls and George Stanton's son, Jack, around the town for two weeks, Bostwick was ready for the fortune. It was located behind a row of lockers at the junior high. Bostwick was willing to kill all three kids for the fortune and nearly succeeded by locking Jack and Robin in the school freezer. Samantha had called the police and they arrived on the scene before he could get away. Robin, Jack, and Samantha told the police everything from the robbery, to the murder, to Bostwick following them around town. Bostwick was sentenced to thirty years in prison with no chance of parole for fifteen years. 

He hated Jack and Samantha, but it was Robin he hated the most. She had figured out everything and it was her fault he was going to prison. Bostwick swore to the world that he was going to make her pay. 

Chapter eight. Whoo! Wipes forehead. Hope you'll liked it.


	9. Waiting

Title: Problems with the Past

Author: I AM GRUMPY BEAR

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I don't own them. At least, I don't think I do. No, I don't.

Summary: Gary meets a girl who's past is quickly catching up to her and that could spell disaster for everyone.

Note: I don't write notes. It's against the rules. Evil Grin.

**Problems with the Past**

Chapter Nine: Waiting

Rachel walked into her house and into the kitchen. Eight of her siblings were sitting at the kitchen table watching cartoons.

"Did Sarah already leave?" asked Rachel as she got down the phonebook off the top of the fridge.

"No," said Marilyn. "She's upstairs, but she'll be leaving in a few minutes. She was starting to get mad because you weren't here yet."

"I was visiting my friend in the hospital," said Rachel in her defense and then she realized she was defending herself against her nine-year-old sister. She opened the phone book and started to look for the number of a pizza place.

"We know that," said eleven-year-old Jamie, "but Sarah is afraid she's going to be late. You know how much she hates to be late."

"I'm late everywhere I go and it never bothers me," said Rachel as she walked over to the phone.

"Yeah," said Jamie, "but you're used to it; Sarah isn't."

"Yeah," said Rachel, "but sometimes I wish she was. Then our lives wouldn't be quite so hectic." She dialed a phone number and waited while it rang.

"I'm leaving," said Sarah as she walked into the kitchen. She grabbed her jacket off the coatrack by the door and opened it. "Bye," she said with a wave.

"Bye," said all the kids in the kitchen except Rachel.

"I think we should try and make her late," said eight-year-old Luke. His twin sister, Lucy, agreed with a nod of her head.

"We're not going to sabotage our sister," said ten-year-old Jonathan. "It's just not right."

"Sure it is," said seven-year-old Mark. "What's sabotage mean?"

"Purposely wreck something," replied Jamie.

"Oh," said Mark. "I do that all the time."

"Like that vase," six-year-old Annie threw in.

"That vase!?" said Jonathan as he turned toward his younger brother. "I got blamed for that." Mark smiled and then ran out of the room. "Come back here, Butthead!" Jonathan shouted as he ran after his brother.

"Don't use that word!" Rachel shouted at her two brothers as she hung up the phone.

"Come, back, or here," asked Jamie as a joke.

"You know what word I meant," said Rachel as she sat down at the table and started to watch cartoons as well.

"What kind of pizzas did you get?" asked Marilyn.

"Half-pepperoni, half-mushroom," replied Rachel, "and one all cheese."

"Good," said Luke. "So that's one pizza for me, and you guys all split one."

"In your dreams," said Jamie.

Rachel laughed and then set her head on her hands. She started to think back to the hospital visit. She was confused. She knew Emma was lying to her, but she couldn't figure out why. Why had she lied about her name? What was the point? Rachel thought back to when she had spent the night at Emma's. Was there anything in her room that might explain why she lied? Rachel remembered seeing an old yearbook lying on her friend's desk. When Rachel wanted to look at it, Emma took and shoved it into her desk. She had quickly changed the subject.

"What name was on the cover?" Rachel asked herself. She closed her eyes and visualized the book. "Knoxville!" exclaimed Rachel when she opened her eyes.

All her siblings turned to stare at her and Rachel shrunk down a bit.

"Tennessee?" asked Jamie.

"I don't think so," replied Rachel, "but I'm going to find out." They all went back to watching cartoons.

????

Gary payed the cab driver and climbed out of the taxi. The man who hitched a ride with him had already gotten out at his stop. He pulled out the newspaper and checked the story once again. There was supposed to be a dumpster fire in an alley that burned down two stores.

Gary found the alley and saw that the dumpster was already smoking. He ran into the grocery story next to the alley and up to the clerk behind the counter.

"Do you have a fire extinguisher?" Gary asked the clerk. The man just stared at him. "This is an emergency!" The clerk walked into the backroom and came out carrying a fire extinguisher.

He handed it to Gary and asked, "You're going to bring that back, right?"

Gary didn't respond and ran out the door. He raced into the alley and over to the dumpster. Gary opened the dumpster and put out the fire.

Gary sighed in relief and closed the dumpster. Before he could turn around, Gary felt someone grab his arm and twist it behind his back.

"I advise you not to help Robin again," the man who had hold of his arm said.

"What are you talking about?" demanded Gary. The man twisted his arm harder and Gary felt something snap.

"Don't ask questions," said the man, "and take my advice. It may save your life." Before Gary could respond, the man pushed him into the alley wall. Gary's head collided with the bricks and he sank to the ground unconscious.

????

Robin was resting her head against the back of the hospital bed and trying to keep her mind off the needle in her arm. She hated needles.

"Done," said the nurse as she pulled the hypodermic needle out of Robin's arm.

"I hate needles," muttered Robin as she opened her eyes.

"So do I," said the nurse as she put the needle away. "I still don't know why I work with them." She walked out of the room.

Robin shook her head and closed her eyes again. There was a dull ache in her chest and she had been trying to ignore it all day. The doctors had told her that she had three broken ribs and a fractured skull. They were worried about internal bleeding at first, but the doctor was now positive there wasn't any. Her parents were really worried about the head injury, but it was the pain in her chest that bothered Robin the most.

"I can deal with a headache," Robin muttered to herself as she once again tried to get comfortable in the hospital bed, "but not pain every time I breathe."

"How are you feeling?" Christine asked Robin as she walked into the room.

"Why do you ask me that whenever you see me, Mom?" was Robin's reply.

"Because I'm a mother and it's my job," answered Christine, "and you are constantly getting into situations that cause me to worry more than the average mother."

"In answer to your question," said Robin apparently affected by her mother's guilt trip plan, "better."

"The doctor told me he's going to have you get some more x-rays tonight," said Christine.

"Joy!" replied Robin sarcastically then she inhaled sharply as a pain shot through her chest.

"Are you all right?" Christine asked her daughter nervously.

"Yeah," replied Robin. "I guess I was breathing too much."

"When you get out of here," said Christine, "I'm going to make sure you have a nice long rest. No school for at least a week."

"No complaints here," said Robin as she drifted off to sleep. She liked sleeping when she was at the hospital. That was the only time she didn't feel pain.

????

The world slowly came back to Gary. He was lying on the ground and his head was pounding. Gary put his right hand down on the ground to help him get to his feet, but when he put pressure on it, a pain shot up through his arm. His fell back onto the ground and pulled his arm close to his body. Gary looked at his arm and saw that his wrist was bruised and starting to swell.

"This is just great," muttered Gary as he pushed himself up with his left hand. Gary took a step and his head started to spin. He felt himself falling and reached out his right hand once again to support himself. Pain shot through him again when his arm hit the wall.

"It's broken," Gary thought to himself. He walked out of the alley stumbling along as he did. He tried to think back to what had happened. His mind was fuzzy, but after a minute, flashes of the day started to come back. He remembered being at the police station, then the taxi ride, and then the dumpster fire. "The guy," Gary thought to himself, "he said not to help Robin again." He tried to think of who Robin might be. A pain shot through his head and grabbed it with both hands.

"God my head!" Gary muttered. He stumbled a bit and almost wasn't able to regain his balance. "The Paper!" Gary said all of a sudden. He reached into his pocket, but the paper was gone. "Oh, no," thought Gary. He couldn't remember if the dumpster fire had been the last thing he needed to prevent. Then another thought dawned on Gary. Whoever had that paper knew what he knew everyday. Fearing the worst, Gary took off in a sprint not sure of where he was going.

????

Hazel walked down the sidewalk struggling to keep the papers in the folders from falling out. She hated carrying around all the papers, but she didn't trust anyone enough to keep them for her.

"If there was one thing my father ever wanted me to remember," Hazel often said to the people who questioned her cautiousness, "it was this: There are only things in the world you can trust, your family and your gut. To be safe, always go with your gut."

People normally laughed at her when she told them that, but Hazel didn't care. That was the way she was raised. Her parents had always told her and her brothers to be themselves and not to care what others think. That's one of the reasons people were so surprised when they found out she was a federal agent. It didn't fit her personality at all, but over the years her personality had changed to fit her profession.

Hazel lost the fight with the folders and the papers fell to the ground. She quickly dropped to her knees to pick them up.

"Let me help you," said a woman as the stooped down to help. She was the only person on the sidewalk who volunteered.

"Thanks," said Hazel as she grabbed the papers. It took a few minutes, but they finally managed to gather them all.

"There you go," said the woman as she handed a stack of papers to Hazel.

"Thank you," said Hazel as she put the papers back into the folders.

"You're welcome," said the woman. She continued down the sidewalk.

Hazel tucked the folders under her arm and started walking again. She hated big cities. She was raised in a small town and that's where she liked to be.

"When this is over," Hazel thought to herself as she adjusted the folders again, "I'm going to take a nice long vacation."

????

Bostwick sat on the bench staring out into space. His "plan" was falling apart. After he had knocked the guy out, he knew everything was about to go down hill. "I have to lay low for awhile. I can't let that damn fed find me. Robin's just going to have to wait a couple of days."

Bostwick stood up and knocked the paper he had taken from the guy to the ground. He stepped on the paper leaving a muddy footprint on the date. He never noticed what he had.

????

Gary sat down on a park bench and took several deep breaths. His head was swimming and his wrist was throbbing. He knew he needed to go to the hospital, but first he needed to find the paper.

After his head had cleared, Gary stood up and took a few steps to see if he was better and stepped on a muddy newspaper. Gary took a few more steps and then turned back around. He bent down and picked up the paper. He wiped the mud off the date and saw that it was his paper.

"I can't believe this," said Gary. He opened the paper and saw there were no more disasters that he needed to prevent. Gary tossed the paper into the trash can and started walking. He was headed toward the hospital and after that, all he wanted to do was go to bed.

????

The nurse wheeled Robin down the hall. She was taking her in for some x-rays and then she was supposed to take her back to her room.

"If I leave you here," the nurse said to Robin, "you gonna stay?"

"No," said Robin. "I'm going to wheel myself down to that elevator and go to Pizza Hut."

"You'll be wheeling yourself for awhile," said the nurse with a laugh.

"Then I'll order in," replied Robin. "They deliver to hospitals, right?"

"I don't know," said the nurse. "I've never tried it." The nurse left Robin and walked down to the nurse's station. She liked the girl. She had a good sense of humor even for being a hospital patient. The nurse knew Robin was ready to get out of the hospital, but she knew the doctors weren't ready to release her.

Robin looked around at all the people as she let her mind wander. She thought about her friends in Knoxville and the officers. "I hope Carver's okay," she thought to herself. Every time something bad happened to someone she cared about, she blamed it on herself. "I really hope he's okay."

????

"It's broken," said the doctor as he looked at the x-ray.

"I figured that," said Gary.

"How did you say you broke it again?" asked the doctor as he took the x-ray down.

"I fell and put my arms out to support myself," lied Gary. "I guess I feel on it wrong."

"I don't think there is a right way to fall on it," said the doctor. "It's a pretty bad break so it's gonna need a cast. I'll have to set it and then put the cast on. It could take six to eight weeks for it to heal completely." (A/n: Please understand I don't know how long it takes a broken wrist to heal.)

"Is that gonna hurt?" asked Gary.

"A little," replied the doctor, "but it's either that or it can hurt for six weeks."

Gary stared at the doctor and then looked down at his wrist. It was still swelling and bruising. "Okay," said Gary.

????

Robin was wheeled out of the x-ray room and was being pushed down the hall by the nurse.

"Wasn't so bad, was it?" the nurse asked Robin.

"I guess not," said Robin with a sigh. She was getting tired again.

The nurse wheeled her toward the elevator and saw a sign on the door. "Out of Order" it read.

"What?" said the nurse. She saw the elevator next to it had the same sign. "What is going on?" She looked at Robin and said, "I'll be right back." She walked down to the nurses station and asked, "Carol, what is going on with the elevators?"

"They're under maintenance," replied the nurse as she checked something off on the clipboard she had. "We have to use the service elevator, Ellen."

"Okay," said the nurse as she turned to leave.

"But you can't use it right now," said Carol.

"Why not?" asked Ellen.

"A person was just air-lifted here from Peoria," replied Carol, "and there's supposed to be three more coming. They're using the elevator for that right now."

"What happened?" asked Ellen.

"Car accident," answered Carol. "From what I've heard, it was supposed to be a three car pile-up."

"That bad, huh?" said Ellen.

"One person's already dead," said Carol. "Unless your person has to be someone desperately, you're stuck for a little bit."

"Alright," said Ellen. She walked back over to where she left Robin. "We're stuck here for a little bit," she said.

"Why?" asked Robin. Ellen quickly explained it to her. "Oh," said Robin with a nod of her head. She sighed and started to look around again. She saw a man walking down the hall that seemed familiar. "Where have I seen him before?" Robin asked herself.

"Seen who?" asked Ellen looking around.

"That guy over there," said Robin pointing. "I know I've seen him somewhere before."

"I can't tell you," said the nurse.

The man walked over to the elevator and saw the signs.

"You're stuck here for awhile," Ellen said to the man. He had a red cast on his arm.

The man looked at Ellen and then Robin in the wheelchair. "Why?" he asked.

"Service elevator is in use," replied Ellen. "I don't know how long it will be, but I guess you could use the stairs."

"Thanks," said the man.

As he was about to walk away, Robin said, "You're Gary."

"What?" asked the man as he turned around.

"You're Gary," Robin said again. "You're the guy from the accident. You're the guy who saved me."

Gary looked down at the girl and then recognized as the girl he had saved. "Emma something," Gary said not being able to remember her last name.

"Jones," Robin said. Very seldom was she actually able to give her fake last name without trouble. "I just wanted to thank you again." She stuck out her hand.

Gary shook it and said, "You're welcome."

There was silence for a minute and then Robin asked, "What happened?"

"What?" asked Gary.

"You're arm," said Robin pointing to the red cast.

"I broke my wrist," replied Gary quietly.

"How?" asked Robin.

"I fell and stuck out my arms to try to support myself," answered Gary. "Not a good idea."

Robin nodded and then asked, "Can I sign it?"

For a few seconds, Gary didn't respond and then he said, "Sure. Got a marker?"

"Hold on," said Ellen. She walked over to the nurses station and came back with a sharpie. "There you go," she said as she handed it to Robin.

Gary stuck out his arm and Robin debated for a minute on what to put. She finally decided and quickly wrote, "Thanks, Robin."

Gary looked at the signature and then name hit him. "Robin?" he said as he looked at the girl.

"It's a nickname," replied Robin.

"There you are," said Christine as she and Roy walked over to their daughter. "We couldn't use the elevator, so we had to use the stairs." She looked at Gary and asked, "Who are you?"

"This is the guy who saved me, Mom," said Robin answering the question for Gary.

"Oh," said Christine. "Thank you." She stuck her hand out to Gary.

Gary shook it and said, "No problem."

"You saved my daughter's life," said Roy as he also shook Gary's hand. "We can't thank you enough for that."

"You're welcome," said Gary. He looked at his watch and then said, "I don't mean to be rude, but I really need to get going."

"It's okay," said Christine. "Thank you, again."

Gary waved good-bye to the family and went to the stairs.

"What happened to his arm?' asked Roy.

"He broke his wrist," answered Robin.

"Oh," said Roy. The family sat there for another half-hour before they were able to us the service elevator.

????

Gary walked into his apartment and collapsed onto his bed. The cat meowed at him from its spot on the couch.

Gary looked at him and said, "I broke my wrist. Are you happy?"

The cat only meowed in response. Gary shook his head and closed his eyes. In minutes, he was asleep.

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Chapter Nine. Yay! I want you guys to review the story and give me an opinion on Agent Maureen Hazel. I want to know what you think of her.


	10. The Call

Title: Problems with the Past

Author: I AM GRUMPY-BEAR

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Summary: Gary meets a girl who's past is quickly catching up to her and that could spell disaster for everyone.

Disclaimer: Man you guys are annoying. I still don't own them. Gees.

Note: Since you won't review, I won't write notes.

**Problems with the Past**

Chapter Ten: The Call

Gary woke up all of a sudden and stared out into the darkness. He looked at the clock radio on the table and saw the bright red numbers clearly. "2:30," Gary mumbled to himself. There was a sharp pain in his wrist and he unconsciously rubbed his cast. Gary sighed and got out of bed. He went to the bathroom and opened the small bottle of painkillers. It had been a week since he had broken his wrist and he still couldn't get what happened off his mind.

Gary swallowed the medication along with a glass of water and walked back over to his bed. He sat down on the side and ran his hand through his hair. He sighed again and went back to sleep.

???

"Can I go home?" Robin asked the doctor as he shined a light in her eye.

"Maybe," said the doctor.

"What does maybe mean?" asked Robin. "Because if it doesn't mean yes, this patient is going to stop being cooperative. I've been here for over a week and I'm ready to go home."

The doctor turned off the penlight and looked at Robin. "You can go home tomorrow afternoon if there are no more complications."

"Finally," said Robin as she set her head against the back of the bed.

"Don't think you're going to be doing much," said the doctor. "You're still in pretty bad shape."

"I'm good enough to leave," said Robin. "That was stupid. I can come up with a better argument than that."

"Don't bother," said the doctor as he made a note on his chart. "I'm changing my mind."

"I knew that," said Robin, "but it was worth a shot."

"You're lucky," the doctor said to Robin. "You healed pretty well for a person who was hit by a car."

"I've been through worse," said Robin.

"Let me put it this way," said the doctor. "When they first brought you in, I didn't think you're going to make it through the night. Truthfully, I think it was a miracle." The doctor waved good-bye and left the room.

Robin sat there dumbfounded. "He came pretty close that time," she said to herself. "Of all the times, that was the closest." Robin looked out the window and let out a defeated sigh. "This is gonna end. I'm not gonna spend my life in fear because of some idiot criminal."

???

Gary walked down the sidewalk reading the paper. So far he couldn't find anything very threatening in the paper. Gary flipped the page of the paper and a picture of a woman caught his eye.

"I know her," Gary said to himself as he stared at the woman. He quickly read the article and found out that it was the federal agent he had met before. "Woman Killed in Mugging."

"9:10," Gary said quietly. All week he had wondered about the hit-and-run. He was now positive that what happened wasn't just an accident and he was going to find out what was going on.

???

Hazel sat in her hotel room sorting through all the files. "I hate you, Bostwick," she kept muttering to herself as she flipped through all the papers in the folders. "I hate you so much."

She didn't know why she was looking through all the old case reports. There was never a pattern in his crimes. The only thing that was constant was the fact he wanted Robin dead. Hazel looked at a photograph taken of Bostwick while he was being loaded into the police car after his first trial. She set the photo down and sighed.

"Where the hell are you now, Bostwick?" Hazel demanded of the files. She set one to her side and picked up a different one. She hated files. The thing she hated most about her job was looking through old files, but somehow she always ended up looking through them. Hazel set the file to the side and picked up a different one.

When she was about halfway through the report, the phone in her room rang. Hazel reached for the phone and grabbed it on it's third ring.

"Hazel," she said simply into the phone.

"I have to talk to you," said the voice on the other.

"Who is this?" asked Hazel.

"Meet me tonight at nine o' clock," said the voice. "We're going to talk."

"Who the hell is this?" Hazel demanded angrily.

"I will tell you tonight," said the voice. "I have information you can use."

"How do I know I can trust you?" asked Hazel. She wasn't about to walk into a trap.

"You have my word," said the voice.

"Your word is exactly crap to me," said Hazel.

"It's your choice," said the voice, "but I have information that would be quite useful to you."

"Why can't you tell me over the phone?" asked Hazel.

"I don't trust phones with valuable information," replied the person.

Hazel sighed and said in a defeated tone asked, "Where do I meet you at?"

The person gave Hazel the address and she quickly wrote it down.

"Don't be late," said the voice. That was followed by a click.

Hazel shook her head and hung up the phone. She was still debating whether or not she should go. "This is probably a trap," said Hazel as she stood and began to pace the room, "but if it's not, I could lose a lot of valuable information. I was always told not to walk into traps, but if it's not, I'm skewed." She debated with herself a moment longer and then decided. "I'm going. I'll just take precautions."

She sat back down and started going through the files again.

???

"Are you sure you should go alone?" asked Marissa as she and Gary walked down the sidewalk.

"I don't know," replied Gary.

"Well you said that you don't think this murder is all because of a mugging," said Marissa.

"I could be wrong," said Gary.

"Gary, think about it," said Marissa. "First, a girl is hit by a car. Then, you're questioned by the police about a criminal and a girl named Robin. Then, a man threatens you and says not to help Robin anymore and then he breaks your wrist. Now, the federal agent that questioned you is supposed to be murdered. I don't think those are all coincidences. You don't think so either."

"How do you know that?" asked Gary.

"I just do," replied Marissa.

"I think I can handle it," said Gary with a sigh.

"Fine," said Marissa. "Just be careful."

"I will," said Gary. "I promise."

???

Hazel picked her gun up off the table and carefully tucked it away. She wasn't going to meet this guy tonight without being prepared. "I can't believe I'm doing this," said Hazel as she picked up her room key and walked out her door.

She rode the elevator to the first floor and walked out of her hotel. She hailed a cab and told the driver the address she needed to get to.

"I'll get you there in no time," said the driver.

"Thanks," said Hazel. She sighed once again and settled in for the ride.

???

The man paced in the darkness of the alley. "9:05," the man said aloud to himself as he looked at his watch. "She should have been here by now." He heard a car stop and looked out at the street. He saw a woman get out of a cab and then walk down the street. He smiled and walked towards her.

"Hazel," he said to the woman. She turned around and stared.

"You must be the man who called me," said Hazel. She tried to get a look at his face, but he had covered it with a hat and sunglasses.

"That's right," said the man.

"Can I see your face?" asked Hazel as she crossed her arms.

"No," said the man. "I can't let you know who I am. You might try and find me again and I can't let that happen."

Hazel stared at the man and then asked, "What information did you have for me?" She put her hand into her pocket and set it on the gun. She was going to be ready.

"I guessing you already know most of it," said the man.

"Than why did you call me here?" asked Hazel. She tightened her grip on the gun.

"Because I have a tiny bit of information," said the man, "and you can definitely use it."

"So tell me," said Hazel.

"Not here," said the man. "Follow me." He turned away from Hazel and started to walk quickly down the sidewalk. Before she could catch up to him, he had disappeared into an alley.

"Wait up!" shouted Hazel as she chased after the man. She ran into the alley and saw that it was empty. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her gun. "I know you're here," said Hazel as she scanned the alley. "Come out, come out wherever you are." Before she could turn around, someone placed a knife to her neck.

"Drop the gun," said the man. Hazel swallowed and let the gun drop to the ground.

"You have been a thorn in my side for much too long, Hazel," said the man as he pressed the knife into her throat. "You have been the main thing that has kept me from killing Robin."

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Hazel as calmly as she could.

"I wouldn't," said Bostwick pushing the knife against her throat harder.

"Just tell me why," said Hazel. "Why do you want her dead? What did she do to you? There have been plenty of other people that helped put you behind bars. What about her friends? Why not them? Why Robin?"

"Because she embarrassed me," said Bostwick.

"A guy like you?" said Hazel. "I'm sure you've been embarrassed before."

"Do you want to die?" Bostwick asked Hazel angrily.

"Don't know," said Hazel. "I've always kind of wondered about death."

"Let me stop your wondering," said Bostwick. He was about to shove the knife into her back when someone hit him on the head from behind. Bostwick fell to the ground stunned.

Hazel turned around and saw a man standing there with a broken bottle. "Are you alright?" he asked Hazel.

"Fine," said Hazel. "I can't argue with your timing." She stared at him a moment longer and then suddenly recognized him. "Hobson?" she said. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Um," said Gary. "Um. It's kind of hard to explain."

"Well, I don't wanna know here," said Hazel. She looked to the spot where Bostwick had been lying and saw that he was gone. "Where the hell did he go?" She looked toward Gary and he gave her a shrug.

"This is just great," said Hazel sarcastically. She looked at the ground and saw that her gun was also missing. She looked around and said dejectedly, "And now her has my gun. This is perfect! Bostwick is now loose in the city with my gun!" She kicked the alley wall in frustration.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" asked Gary as he turned toward the federal agent.

Hazel looked at him and replied, "Only if you me why you showed up here." She reached down and picked up the knife. With a sigh, she and Gary left the alley.

??????????????????????????????????????

Chapter ten. Someone please review!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm begging you!!!!!!!!1


	11. The Chapel

Title: Problems with the Past

Author: I AM GRUMPY-BEAR

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Summary: Gary meets a girl who's past is quickly catching up to her and that could spell disaster for everyone.

Disclaimer: I don't own them. I'm borrowing them for awhile.

Note: The name of the chapter is a little weird, but you'll see why it's called that in a little bit.

**Problems with the Past**

Chapter Eleven: The Chapel

After Bostwick was put in jail for the murder of George Stanton, he took some time to think. He couldn't believe he had been outsmarted by a bunch of kids and worse than that, Robin had embarrassed him. It was then that he planned to breakout.

He had been at the prison for about six months when he found out he was supposed to be transferred to a maximum security prison and that's when he planned on getting away.

Bostwick was put into a police car and for about three hours of the drive across state, Bostwick worked one of his hands out of the handcuffs. His hand was raw, but he didn't care. This was his ticket out. Bostwick waited till night and then put his plan into action. He faked a seizure and when the police officer stopped the car to come around and check on him, Bostwick used the handcuffs to strangle him.

Bostwick left the cop's body along side the rode and took the police car. He started the drive back to Knoxville and on his way he met a couple of small time crooks. Bostwick convinced them to come to Knoxville with him. He told them he had a plan to make them all rich. The crooks believed him and went to Knoxville with him.

When he was back in Knoxville, Bostwick met a man who was obsessed with an old church in the town. Bostwick had only seen it once and wasn't too interested in what he had to say. That was until the man mentioned a fortune hidden somewhere in the church. Bostwick and the crooks he had met forced the man to tell them everything he knew about the church and the treasure. They stole all his research and then killed the man.

Bostwick used the next five months to figure out what he was going to do. He wasn't great at long-term planning, but this one he was going to have to make work. During that time, Galesburg and Knoxville was plagued by a string of thefts committed mainly by the two crooks.

Bostwick learned that the owners of the chapel were planning on renovating it and that's when he put his plan into action. He went to Katherine Malloy, one of the part owner's of the church, and convinced her that he owned a small renovation company. He and his two minions renovated the church during the day, but every night, they trashed it.

Eventually, Robin and Samantha ended up trying to find out what was happening at the chapel. They found the treasure the man had told Bostwick about and Bostwick found them. Unfortunately, Bostwick didn't know that they called the police before going to the chapel. Bostwick had his gun trained on Robin, but before he could pull the trigger, the police had showed up.

Bostwick and the two crooks were arrested and Bostwick was put back in jail. The two crooks ended up with twenty-five years in prison and no chance of parole. Bostwick didn't know they were on the run for another murder.

As Bostwick was taken away, he stared at Robin. He hated her with all his heart. She had embarrassed him again. He was already planning his escape as they took him back to jail.

???????????????????????????????????????

Another chapter on Bostwick and Robin's history together. (Just so you know what's going on.)


	12. The Truth Comes Out

Title: Problems with the Past

Author: I AM GRUMPY-BEAR

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Summary: Gary meets a girl who's past is quickly catching up to her and that could spell disaster for everyone.

Disclaimer: Don't own them. No smart sayings this time.

Note: Really stupid title. I would like to explain something. Knoxville, Illinois is a real place. St. Mary's Chapel is a real place in Knoxville, also a real place, and I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but Knoxville Jr. High is a real place. I just graduated from there. That's all. Please review.

**Problems With the Past**

Chapter Twelve: The Truth Comes Out

Gary and Hazel sat at McGinty's.

"He has my gun," Hazel kept muttering to herself. "This puts Robin in more danger. My boss is gonna kill me when he finds out about this. My job is now on the line. "

"Who is Robin?" asked Gary.

"What?" asked Hazel looking up.

"Who is Robin?" Gary asked again.

Hazel looked out the window and asked quietly, "Can you keep your mouth shut?"

"Huh?" asked Gary.

"Can you keep your mouth shut?" Hazel asked. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Why?" questioned Gary.

"Because what I'm about to tell cannot leave this table," said Hazel. "Few civilians know this and the more that do, the more danger a lot of people are put in."

"What are you talking about?" asked Gary in frustration.

"Did you even wonder why a federal agent would be working on a hit-and-run?" asked Hazel as she looked back toward Gary.

"I guess a little," replied Gary.

"The driver in that hit-and-run is named Frederick Charles Bostwick," said Hazel, "and to put it simply, he is wanted for far more than reckless driving." Hazel took a drink from her glass. "I hate him so much."

"What else has he done?" asked Gary.

"Murder, attempted murder, robbery," said Hazel. "You name it, he's done it. He's got a rap sheet as long as _War and Peace_."

"Why did he hit Robin?" asked Gary.

"Mainly," replied Hazel, "because she embarrassed him. Bostwick is not the most intelligent man. He's a criminal. All criminals are idiots, mainly because their criminals, but Bostwick is one of the worst. I've been on his case for two years and in that time he has killed three people. One of those people was my partner." She sighed and started to looked around. "Bostwick may be an idiot, but he has a very strong sense of pride."

"Is there more to the story?" asked Gary sensing that the federal agent wasn't done.

"Of course there's more," said Hazel as she rubbed her eyes. She proceeded to tell Gary about Bostwick and Robin's history together and when she was done, Hazel ran her hand through her hair with a sigh.

"Understand why I told you to be careful?" asked Hazel seeing the look on Gary's face.

"Yeah," replied Gary.

"Now I have a question for you," said Hazel. "What were you doing in that alley? I know you saved my life, but how did you know to be there?"

"I......uh....uh...um," stammered Gary as he tried to come up with a story she would believe, "I was walking by that alley and I-I-I saw that you wer-wer-were in trouble and I j-j-just came to help you."

"Right," said Hazel her voice full of disbelief. "You just happened to be walking by the alley I was in at the exact moment I needed help. That's kind of hard to believe. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the help greatly, but I am not a stupid person, Mr. Hobson."

"Th-that's what happened," said Gary.

Hazel stared at him for a moment and then said, "Fine. It doesn't matter. I will be seeing you and thank you once again for saving my life. Good-bye." She stood up from the table and walked out of the bar.

???

Robin looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was leaving the hospital soon and walking back into Bostwick's reach. She had wanted to get out of the hospital so badly she forgot that she was safe there. "He wouldn't try and kill me in a hospital," Robin thought. "Not even Bostwick's that stupid."

She sat down on the bed and looked at the bear Rachel had given her. "What should I do?" she asked the bear. Its black eyes only stared at her. "You're a lot of help," said Robin sarcastically as she set the bear back in it's place on the table. She picked her shoe up off the floor and put it on. "I can't run forever. It's impossible. Eventually he'll catch me." She put her other shoe on.

Robin picked up her backpack and put the bear inside of it. Her parents were checking her out and she was supposed to meet them at the elevators. The elevators had finally been fixed. She stood up and walked out of the hospital room.

"Good-bye, Emma," said Nurse Ellen when she saw the girl walking down the hall.

"See ya," said Robin quietly. She saw her parents standing at the elevator next to an orderly with a wheelchair. "You can't be serious," said Robin when she reached the elevators. "I can walk."

"Hospital rules," said the orderly with a shrug. "Have a seat."

Robin looked at her parents and saw that they were on the orderly's side. Robin shook her head and sat down in the wheelchair. "I don't need a wheelchair," she muttered as her father took her backpack.

"Just listen to the doctor for once," said Roy, "please."

Robin crossed her arms and was quiet the entire elevator ride. When the doors opened, Robin stood up from the wheelchair.

"Sit back down," said the orderly.

"It wasn't just for the elevator?" asked Robin.

"No," said the orderly. "It's until you get to the car."

Robin sat back down and the family left the hospital.

???

Bostwick walked down the sidewalk with his head hanging down. He would have worried about people recognizing him, but he knew there were only three people in the city who could identify him.

"I could have killed her," Bostwick said to himself. "I should had killed her. I had to keep talking. She probably planned all that. Probably knew it was a trap and brought back up." Bostwick shook his head again and turned the corner. He needed to find Robin quick and get out of the city. He couldn't go to the hospital, because he was almost positive there would have been a guard outside or something that prevented him from getting to her. "My problems have been made easier though," Bostwick thought to himself as he felt the gun in his pocket. "All thanks to that wonderful Agent Hazel." He smiled to himself as he continued walking.

???

Rachel knocked on the door of Emma's apartment. She knew Emma had been released from the hospital yesterday and she was coming to visit her.

Mark opened the door and said, "Hello, Rachel."

"Hey, Mr. Jones," said Rachel. "How's Emma doing?"

"Much better," said Mark. "She's in her room if you want to go see her."

"Thanks," said Rachel. She stepped into the apartment and went to her friend's room.

"Hey, Rachel," said Robin who was sitting cross-legged on her bed.

"Hey, Em," said Rachel as she sat down in the desk chair. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"No," said Robin. "Go ahead."

"Do you promise to give me the truth?" asked Rachel. "No matter what the question."

"Just ask the question," said Robin.

"Answer my other one," said Rachel, "and then I will."

"I promise," said Robin with a shrug.

"Who is Robin?" asked Rachel.

"I told you," replied Robin. "It's me. It's my other middle name."

"No," said Rachel, "it's not. I know you're Robin, but It is not your other middle name. So please answer my question."

Robin looked down at her hands and said quietly, "I can't tell you."

"Fine," said Rachel with a shrug, "but let me tell you what I know. I know your full name is Robin Marie Mason. I know you're from a town called Knoxville, but I don't know which state. And I know it is quite possible for me to find out about you even without you helping me. I just thought I'd give you the chance to tell me."

Rachel stood up and was about to leave the room when Robin said, "Wait, Rachel. I'll tell you."

Rachel breathed a quiet sigh of relief and turned back around toward Robin. "I'm waiting," said Rachel as she sat back down in the chair.

"It's a very long story," said Robin as she tried to get Rachel to change her mind about wanting to know.

"I have lots of time," said Rachel.

Robin sighed and began her story.

???

Gary looked at the paper and saw something in it had changed. "Girl Abducted from Apartment," was what the title said. Gary folded the paper back up and put it back into his pocket. He only had a little bit of time to get across town.

???

"I have to go to work, Emma," said Roy as he walked into his daughter's bedroom.

"Alright, Dad," said Robin.

"Your mom should be home in about two hours or so," said Roy.

"Alright," said Robin. "Bye."

"Bye, Mr. Jones," said Rachel.

"Good-bye, Rachel," said Roy. "Are you going to be here for dinner?"

"No," said Rachel. "I gotta go home and cook dinner for my brother's and sister's here pretty soon."

"'Kay," said Roy. "Good-bye." The two girls waved and Roy left.

"So you're in the witness protection program?" said Rachel as she turned toward Robin.

"Yes," said Robin with a sigh, "but you can't tell anybody."

"Who am I supposed to tell?" asked Rachel with a shrug. "You're my only friend and I don't really talk to my parents. They don't allow me to talk to strangers either."

"But you talk to your siblings," said Robin. "Especially Jamie. You have to keep this a secret. Please, keep this a secret."

"I promise," said Rachel.

"You have to swear," said Robin looking her friend right in the eye.

"I swear on our friendship," said Rachel. She stuck her hand out to Robin and Robin shook it.

"Good," said Robin she leaned back against the wall.

Rachel was quiet for a moment and then asked, "What's it like to know a federal agent?"

"If you're talking about Agent Hazel," said Robin, "she's pretty nice, blames herself a lot, but overall she's okay."

Rachel nodded and then started to spin around in the desk chair.

"What are you doing?" asked Robin as she watched her friend.

"Sorting all this out," replied Rachel.

"And spinning around helps you?" asked Robin in a confused tone.

"No," said Rachel. "It's just fun."

???

Gary waited while the elevator climbed the floors of the apartment building. He nervously kept checking his watch. "Five minutes," Gary said quietly to himself. He sighed and started to nervously drum his fingers on the wall.

The elevator finally arrived on the floor and Gary stepped off the elevator and walked down the hall, but as he was reading the numbers on the apartment doors, he realized he had gone to the wrong floor. He ran back to elevator hoping he still had enough time.

???

Bostwick smiled to himself as he climbed the stairs. Robin wasn't going to get away from him this time. He felt the gun in his pocket and opened the door out of the stairwell. He saw a man already at Robin's apartment door.

"It's HIM!" said Bostwick angrily to himself. He walked quietly down the hall and up behind the man. Bostwick placed the gun against the man head and said quietly, "Ring the doorbell, but if you say one thing you die."

The man reached out shakily and rang the doorbell.

???

Robin heard the bell in her room and said to Rachel, "I'll be right back."

"I can get it if you want," said Rachel.

"That's okay," said Robin. "My house, my door."

Robin walked out of her bedroom and to the door. "Who's there?" asked Robin. No one answered. "Who's there?" Robin asked. There was silence for a moment more and then a shaky voice said, "Gary Hobson."

Robin gave the door a funny look and then reached up for the chain. She opened the door and was greeted by the sight of Bostwick pointing a gun at her.

???????????????????????????????????????

Sorry it took so long, but I had writer's block. I think only two more chapters. Who knows.


	13. Reunion

Title: Problems with the Past

Author: I AM GRUMPY-BEAR

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Summary: Gary meets a girl who's past is quickly catching up to her and that could spell disaster for everyone.

Disclaimer: Don't own them. Do you?

Note: I'm mean. Ha ha ha ha!

**Problems with the Past**

Chapter Thirteen: Reunion

Robin stared at Bostwick who had a sick grin on his face. "Good to see you again, Robin," he said menacingly. "It's been awhile."

"Not long enough," said Robin nervously.

"Come along," said Bostwick. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

Robin looked at Bostwick he had stopped aiming the gun at her and had now trained it on Gary. She looked back into the apartment and prayed that Rachel wouldn't come out. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the apartment. Robin closed the door and followed Bostwick back to the stairs.

???

Rachel waited in Robin's room. She heard Robin ask who was at the door twice and get no response. She got out of the chair and walked out of the bedroom. She saw Robin staring at the person at the door, but she couldn't get a look at the person there.

She heard Robin's nervous reply to what the person had said and looked out far enough to see who was at the door. Rachel saw two men and one of them had a gun trained on Robin and the other one looked familiar.

The man with the gun asked Robin to come with him and Robin looked back into the apartment. Rachel quickly ducked back into the hall and hoped no one had seen her. She heard the door shut and looked back out. Robin was gone.

"Oh-no," said Rachel quietly. For a moment, Rachel stood there in complete shock. She had no idea what she was going to do. She looked nervously around the room and spotted the phone sitting on the table in the living room. Rachel rushed over to it and dialed the number of the police. She waited nervously while it rang.

???

Robin sat in the backseat of the car. Her mind was blank. For once in her life, she had no idea what she could do. If she tried to get away, the person who had saved her life would be killed and she knew that if she didn't leave neither of them were going to make it our of this alive.

She looked down at her hands and then out the car window. "It isn't going to end this way," Robin said to herself. "I'm not gonna let it."

???

"Please, don't put me on hold---," Rachel said into the phone, but she was cut off by the silence on the other end, "again." She had been being transferred from department to department for the past five minutes.

"Hello," said the person on the other end. "Missing Persons."

"It's not a missing person," Rachel nearly shouted. "It's a kidnaping." She sighed in frustration. "I need to talk to a certain person."

"Look kid," said the cop, "this is not a social line. Now tell me what happened."

"My friend was kidnaped!" shouted Rachel. "I've told that to ever person who picked up the phone. Why won't you listen?!"

"Calm down," said the cop. "Just tell me what happened."

"Please," said Rachel. "I need to talk to a certain person there. At least I hope she's there. She's the only person who can help me."

"No one can help you unless you tell me what happened," said the cop.

"Never mind," said Rachel. She hung up the phone and ran out of the apartment.

???

Hazel walked out of the police station. She was once again carrying around all her files. "It's been almost two weeks now," Hazel said to herself. "That's too long. Maybe we need to move them to somewhere new. Somewhere safer." She balanced the files better just as a girl collided into her. Once again, the files went everywhere.

"I'm getting so tired of this," said Hazel as she got to her feet. She looked over at the girl and saw that she was doing the same. "Are you alright?" Hazel asked the girl.

"I think," replied the girl.

"Good," said Hazel. "You really need to watch where you're going."

"I'm sorry," said the girl, "but I need to find somebody." Hazel shook her head and started to pick up the files. "Do you think you could help me?" asked the girl.

Hazel turned toward the girl and said, "I'm kind of in a hurry."

"Are you a cop?" asked the girl. "I really need some help."

"No, I'm not a cop," said Hazel, but feeling bad for the girl, she then said, "Maybe I can still help you though. What do you need?"

"I need to find a person," said the girl.

"Go to missing persons then," said Hazel. "Other than that, I don't think I can help you."

"The person's not missing," said the girl, "I just don't know where they are."

"Who are you looking for?" asked Hazel with a sigh.

"Her name is Agent Maureen Hazel," said the girl, "and she's the only person I can think of who can help me."

Hazel stared at the girl for a moment. "How on Earth does she know about me?" Hazel asked herself. "Why do you need to see Agent hazel?" asked Hazel warily.

"My friend, Robin, was kidnaped," said the girl. "I need Agent hazel's help."

"Robin was kidnaped!" said Hazel. She was completely shocked. "Tell me what happened!"

"Who are you?" asked the girl.

Hazel grabbed the girl by the shoulders and said nervously, "I'm Agent Hazel. Now, please tell me what happened?"

???

"What are you going to do?" Gary asked the man driving the car.

"Shut up," was Bostwick quick reply.

Gary reached for the paper in his pocket, but he found it empty. "Where the paper?" Gary asked quietly.

"I said shut up," said Bostwick.

Gary stared straight ahead wondering where the paper was.

???

Hazel and Rachel stood outside Robin's apartment.

"What did you say the other man looked like?" Hazel asked Rachel.

"I didn't get a very good look at him," said Rachel.

"Please," said Hazel. "Give it a try."

Rachel closed her eyes and thought for a moment. "I know he looked familiar," said Rachel, "but I don't know where from."

"What did he look like?" Hazel asked again.

"He was tall," said Rachel with a shrug.

"More decisive," said Hazel as she rubbed her eyes.

"He had dark brown hair," said Rachel, "but that's all I can really tell you."

Hazel stared at the girl. "It can't be him," Hazel thought to herself. "What the Hell would Hobson be doing here? He can't be that damn stupid." Then a thought suddenly hit her. "What if I wasn't wrong before? What if Hobson really is involved in all this?"

Hazel saw something lying beside the door of the apartment. She stooped down and picked it up. "Just a newspaper," Hazel said to herself. She was about to toss it back to the floor when the date caught her eyes. "March fifteenth," Hazel said to herself. "That's tomorrow." Hazel gave the paper a funny look and put it into the pocket of her coat. She didn't know why, but she couldn't bring herself to throw it away.

"What was that?" asked Rachel.

"Nothin," said Hazel. "It was just a newspaper."

"You stuck an old discarded newspaper in your pocket?" said Rachel as she stared at the agent.

"Yes," said Hazel. She turned toward the girl. "We're not going to find anything here. I want you to stay here. When Robin's parents get here, take them to the police station. Ask for Detective Crumb. Tell him that I sent you there and that this is all about the Bostwick case. Tell him everything you know and that I'll be in touch with him later."

Rachel nodded and then asked, "Are you going to find Robin?"

"Yes," said Hazel, "or die trying."

???

Bostwick stopped the car and opened the door. He pointed the gun at the two other passengers and ordered them out of the car.

Rachel stared up at the building they had parked in front and asked, "Where are we?"

"My home away from home," replied Bostwick. "The place I've been staying at while in Chicago. Don't you like it Robin?"

"It's quaint," said Robin quietly.

"Thank you," said Bostwick. He thought for once the girl didn't have a smart comment to say.

"It's a lovely rathole for a lovely rat," Robin added with a smug tone.

Bostwick felt the anger rise up inside and backhanded Robin across the face with the butt gun. The girl fell to the ground stunned.

"Hey!" shouted Gary as he went to help the girl up.

"Don't backtalk, Robin," said Bostwick coldly.

The girl stumbled back to her feet with the help of Gary. Her hand was holding her jaw tightly. "Three years and your backhand has never gotten better," said Robin in a slight daze.

Bostwick glared at the girl, but said nothing. "Get inside," said Bostwick pointing the gun at his captives. Gary and Robin followed the man's orders and walked into the old dilapidated building.

Gary looked around and could tell they were standing inside an old office building.

"You see, Robin," said Bostwick. Both Gary and Robin turned to face the criminal. "I don't have the luxury of people helping me hide."

"What are you going to do?" Gary asked the man a second time.

"I told you to shut up," replied Bostwick, "but for Robin's sake, I will tell. She's gonna die, and I'll be the one that kills her."

Robin took a sharp breath. She knew it had been coming, but she still wasn't ready for it.

"Why didn't you just shoot me then?" asked Robin quietly.

Bostwick walked over to the girl and looked directly in her eyes. "Because I want to make you suffer," said Bostwick coldly.

Robin stared back at him and then asked, "What about him?" She was trying her best not to let Bostwick know she was afraid.

"I'll probably shoot him," answered Bostwick. "Don't know yet."

"You can't do this," said Gary.

Bostwick turned toward Gary and said, "For the last time shut up. Next time I hear anything, I'm going to shoot you."

Bostwick turned toward the window and stared out of it for a moment. There was a complete silence for a few seconds and then Robin asked, "How do you think you're going to get away?"

Bostwick let out an annoyed sigh and raised the gun. Without even aiming, he pulled the trigger.

Gary felt the bullet go into his shoulder and the pain was instant. Gary stumbled back against the wall and looked down at his shoulder.

"Why did you do that?" asked Robin nervously as she went over to see if the man was alright.

"I said the next time I hear anything, I would shoot," said Bostwick as he glared at his captives. "I didn't say it had to be from him." He looked at Gary who was already turning pale. "Just think about what would have happened if I had aimed," said Bostwick coldly. He gave a small laugh and then left the room.

"Are you alright?" Robin asked Gary. He was leaning heavily against the wall and had a tight grip on his shoulder. Gary swallowed and shook his head no. "That was a stupid question," said Robin. She was now angry with herself for getting him involved.

"We have to get out of here," said Gary.

"We can't," said Robin as she hung her head.

"Why?" asked Gary.

"I can guarantee you that Bostwick is right outside that door," said Robin, "and if we try to leave. He'll kill us right away."

Gary leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

"What were doing at my house?" asked Robin.

"What?" asked Gary.

"What were you doing at my house?" Robin asked again. "Did Bostwick track you down or something like that?"

"Something like that," replied Gary.

Robin turned toward the door and started to think to herself. "I have to get him out of here. No one else is going to die trying to help me against Bostwick." Robin was trouble with one of her emotions. For the first time in her life, she felt completely helpless. She had no plan and without one, she knew both of them were going to die.

???????????????????????????????????????

Chapter thirteen. YAY!!!!!!!


	14. Two Bullets

Title: Problems with the Past

Author: I AM GRUMPY-BEAR

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Summary: Gary meets a girl who's past is quickly catching up to her and that could spell disaster for everyone.

Disclaimer: Don't own them. Don't think I ever will.

Note: Weird tittle. I know.

**Problems with the Past**

Chapter Fourteen: Two Bullets

Rachel paced outside of Robin's apartment. She had been waiting for over half an hour for Robin's parents to get back.

"What am I supposed to say to them?" Rachel asked herself. "How am I supposed to explain how I know about Robin and Bostwick?" She let out a sigh of frustration. Rachel heard the sound of the elevator and turned to see who was there. She didn't recognize the person getting off the elevator and returned to pacing.

???

Gary was breathing heavily as he leaned against the wall. He shoulder was throbbing with every breath he took.

Robin took a quick glance at Gary and then went back to her thoughts. She was trying her best to come up with a plan to get him out. "If I don't get him out of here soon," Robin thought to herself, "he's not going to make it out of here at all."

???

Hazel walked down the sidewalk. "If I was a deranged, psycho, idiot, killer, where would I hide?" Hazel asked herself. She had been walking aimlessly for the past hour almost. Hazel knew she was wasting time, but she had no idea what she could do. Hazel took out the paper she had found and started to read through it.

"Car Crash," Hazel said to herself. She knew she wasn't far from where the paper said the crash happened and she walked towards it. Hazel spotted the car that started the crash just as it was pulling out from a stop sign. Not knowing what she was doing, Hazel stepped in front of the car. The car slammed on their brakes just as another car sped past them.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the driver screamed at Hazel.

"I didn't see you," said Hazel with a shrug. She continued across the street. Once she was across the street, Hazel took out the newspaper. "It was probably just a coincidence," Hazel said as she looked for the car crash article. It was gone! Hazel searched through the paper a few more times, but the article was no where in the paper.

"So this is how Hobson knew," Hazel said to herself. She searched through the paper once again, looking for anything that could help her find Robin and Gary.

???

"How are you feeling?" Robin asked Gary. He was now sitting on the floor with his head leaning against the wall.

"Not too good," replied Gary, "but what can I expect?"

"Can I ask you a question?" asked Robin.

"Sure," replied Gary.

"Why did you tell me not to step out into the street?" asked Robin.

"I didn't want you to get hit," replied Gary.

"Well," said Robin, "I figured that, but how did you know. Are you psychic or something?"

"Something," replied Gary. He was starting to get tired.

Robin nodded and remained quiet for a few minutes. She hated silence, but she couldn't think of anything else to say. Finally, after the silence had really gotten to her, Robin said, "He's been after me for three years."

"Why?" asked Gary.

"I don't know," answered Robin. "No one's ever really told me. I guess he just doesn't like me. Who knows?"

"Agent Hazel said it was because you embarrassed him," said Gary. His head was starting to hurt.

"That's news to me," said Robin. "How did you meet Hazel?"

"They called me to the police station after you were hit," replied Gary.

"Oh," said Robin. "We still have a bit of a chance." Gary looked over at her. "My friend was at the apartment. Maybe she saw something. Maybe she got hold of the police. It's not a very big chance, but it's a chance."

"Has this ever happened before?" asked Gary.

"Not this exactly," said Robin. "I spent my thirteenth and fourteenth birthdays at the police station in my home town because of Bostwick. He had escaped and they told me it wasn't safe. There is only one thing that I'm happy about."

"What?" asked Gary.

"He didn't decide to go after my friends, too," replied Robin.

"What do you mean?" asked Gary.

"We all solved it," said Robin, "but I guess it's like Hazel said. I was the only one who embarrassed him."

???

Hazel walked down the sidewalk carrying the paper. "I really hope that car accident wasn't a coincidence," Hazel thought to herself. "I can't believe I'm putting two lives all on something that may or may not be right. Like Dad said: just go with your gut."

Hazel stopped in front of the building that the article talked about. She opened the door and shouted, "Is anybody home?"

She heard somebody running through the building and a moment later Bostwick showed up in front of her.

"What a pleasure to see you here, Hazel," said Bostwick with a sickening grin.

"Wish the feeling was mutual, Bostwick," said Hazel as calmly as she could. She knew she should be over what happened the other night, but the fear of almost being killed was still there.

"What the hell are you doing here, Hazel?" asked Bostwick. He had the gun trained on her.

"I've come for Robin and Hobson," replied Hazel a smile started to come to her face.

"How do you know they're here?" asked Bostwick. He tightened his grip on the trigger of the gun.

"I know things," said Hazel. She stepped all the way into the building and shut the door.

"You know nothin," said Bostwick.

"More than you can say, Bostwick," said Hazel. She took a deep breath and then shouted, "Robin, Hobson, where-." She never finished the sentence. Bostwick pulled the trigger of the gun and the bullet hit Hazel square in the chest. She stood there shocked for a moment and then she fell to the ground.

"No," said Robin who had heard the person and gone to see who it was. "Not again." She started to cry.

Bostwick turned toward her. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out the door. He pulled her down the street, but before he could get very far. He was met by three police officers.

"Going somewhere?" asked the officer.

Bostwick took a step back and placed the gun to Robin's head. "Back up or I'll shoot her." For a moment the officers did nothing, but when Bostwick cocked the gun, they complied with his orders.

???

Hazel took a deep breath and slowly got to her feet. "Thank god for bullet proof vests," she said to herself. "I'm gonna have a bruise." She took a few steps and then shouted, "Is anyone still here?"

At first there was no response, but then Hazel heard someone shout back. She walked toward the sound and found Gary sitting on the floor of one of the rooms. "Figured you'd be here, Hobson," said Hazel. Then she noticed his shoulder. "He shot you."

"Yeah," said Gary.

"And he still has, Robin," said Hazel. "Please let them have spotted him."

"Who?" asked Gary.

"I'll tell you later," replied Hazel. "Right now we need to get you to a hospital." She walked over to him and helped him to his feet. "Come one. We're going out the back. I'm going to have the police call you an ambulance and then I'm going after Bostwick."

???

Bostwick stood in the middle of the street with the gun still pointed at Robin's head. The police had closed off the street and were trying to negotiate with Bostwick.

"Why don't you just shoot me?" asked Robin.

"That's a good idea," said Bostwick with a smile.

He was about to pull the trigger when someone shouted at him from behind. "Drop the gun, Bostwick!" He turned his head and saw Hazel aiming her gun at him.

"What are you going to do, Hazel?" asked Bostwick with a grin. He pulled Robin in front of himself and started to use her as a shield. "You can't shoot. You might hit Robin."

Hazel stared at him. Her mind had gone completely blank. The police were trying to get a good shot at him, but it seemed like from every direction there was too big a risk. "I'm not letting Robin down again," Hazel thought to herself. She carefully aimed the gun and then cocked it.

"Are you sure you want to do that, Hazel?" asked Bostwick as the sickening grin once again came onto his face.

Hazel remained silent. She knew she only had one shot. Hazel took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.

???????????????????????????????????????

I only have one thing to say: Dun Dun Dun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bye.


	15. Secrets Revealed

Title: Problems with the Past

Author: I AM GRUMPY-BEAR

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Summary: Gary meets a girl who's past is quickly catching up to her and that could spell disaster for everyone.

Disclaimer: I didn't own them in the past fourteen chapters and I don't own them in chapter fifteen, okay?

Note: Last chapter. I'm so happy. YAY!!!!!!!!YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Problems with the Past**

Chapter Fifteen: Secrets Revealed

Robin watched Hazel pull the trigger and closed her eyes. She prayed that Hazel's aim was good. She never felt any pain and a second later, she felt Bostwick's grip on her go loose. Robin opened her eyes and saw Bostwick lying on the ground. There was a bullet hole in his head.

The police swarmed all over the scene. Robin felt herself pulled off to the side and she was set in the back seat of a police car. "Are you alright?" asked an officer. Robin gave a weak nod. She was too shocked to speak. Robin saw her parents rushing over to her.

"Are you okay?" asked her mother and she pulled her daughter into a tight hug. Robin once again nodded. "I'm never letting you out of my sight, Robin." Robin looked up at her father and saw that he was crying.

"I'm sorry," said Robin.

"You don't have to apologize, sweetheart," said her father.

???

Crumb walked over to Hazel who was still standing in the same spot. Her arm was hanging at her side, the gun was lying on the ground.

"Nice aim," he said simply. Hazel remained quiet. "You saved her life, you know?"

"I know," replied Hazel, "but I shouldn't of had to." She started to walk away, but then turned back around. "In all my years as an FBI agent, I've never once shot to kill, but this time I did. And what scares me the most is that I don't feel bad. I'm really hoping that's odd." Crumb watched the woman walk towards that police cars. He stooped down, picked up the gun, and then followed.

???

"How are you, Robin?" asked Hazel as she walked over to the police car.

"I thought you were dead," said Robin. He voice was hoarse from crying.

"Bullet proof vest," said Hazel simply. "Saved my life more than once."

"Is Gary okay?" Robin asked.

"By now he should be at the hospital," said Hazel. "I'm thinking he'll be okay though."

Robin nodded in understanding and then asked quietly "Is he dead?"

"Yeah," said Hazel. "He's dead. You're never going to have to worry about him again."

"It'll be nice not to worry," said Robin smiling for the first time in days.

"I'm sure it will," said Hazel. "I'm going to go over to the hospital and make sure he's okay. I might stop by your house later, alright?"

Robin nodded and Hazel left.

"Hey, Em," said Rachel as she walked over to her friend. "I mean Robin."

"I'll answer to both, Rachel," said Robin. She looked down at her hands and then said, "You saved my life."

"It was nothin," said Rachel. "Just doing anything a best friend would do."

"I'm gonna miss you when I go back to Knoxville," said Robin quietly.

"I figured you'd be moving back," said Rachel.

"I'm out of the program," said Robin. "Bostwick's dead. My life can go back to normal."

"I'll write," said Rachel, "and maybe I'll come down and see you."

"That would be cool," said Robin. "Thanks again."

"No problem," said Rachel. There was a silence between the two friends for a moment and then Rachel said, "I think I had better get home. My family is probably starving by now. Bye, Robin."

"See ya, Rachel," said Robin. The two girls waved to each other and the Rachel walked away.

???

Gary opened his eyes and saw that he was lying in a hospital bed. His shoulder still hurt, but not nearly as bad as before.

"Wondering when the drugs were gonna wear off," said a voice from somewhere in the room. He looked over and saw Hazel sitting in a chair. "That's what I hate about hospitals. They give you too many drugs. You feeling better?" Gary nodded. "That's good."

"How did you find Robin and me?" asked Gary.

"Detective work," replied Hazel. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a newspaper. "I think this belongs to you." She set the paper on the bed. "I found it outside Robin's door and I caught a look at the date. It said the fifteenth and I thought that was funny because today is only the fourteenth. But that would explain how you knew where to be at all the time."

"Is that how you found Robin and me?" asked Gary.

"Yeah," said Hazel.

"What did the article say?" asked Gary.

"The building you were in was supposed to catch fire," answered Hazel, "and there was supposed to be three deaths. You, Robin, and an unidentified man. It was kind of weird going along with the paper, but it was right."

Gary stared at her. "You're not going to tell anybody are you?" he finally asked.

"No," said Hazel with a smile. "I don't think anyone would believe. Besides, I think what you do is good. The world needs more good Samaritans. Maybe then there would be less Bostwicks. " She stood up. "I have to get going. Get better. Try and stay out of trouble. Oh yeah. Your friends are waiting to see you." She gave a wave goodbye.

"Bye," said Gary. Once Hazel was gone, Chuck and Marissa walked into the room.

"How you feeling, Gar?" asked Chuck.

"Better than I was before," replied Gary.

"We were pretty worried when we got the call from the hospital," said Marissa. "Especially since they said you had been shot."

"Hit my shoulder," said Gary. "Hazel knows about the paper."

"You told her?!" said Chuck.

"She figured it out," said Gary. "She used it to find Robin."

"Is she gonna tell anyone?" asked Marissa.

Gary shook his head no and started to drift off. He finally lost the battle and fell asleep.

******The End**

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Well, what did you think? My first EE fic ever. Well, gotta go sweep. Dang chores.


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